German startup Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum rocket crashed around 30 seconds after its first launch, though the company said it met its expectations.
The Spectrum is the first rocket launched from continental Europe, lifting off from northern Norway’s Andøya spaceport. The uncrewed rocket briefly flew before falling to the ground and exploding.
“We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our Flight Termination System,” said Isar Aerospace CEO Daniel Metzler. “This allowed the company to gather a substantial amount of flight data and experience to apply on future missions.”
“Today, we laid the foundation to cater [for] the rising global demand for flexible satellite launch services. Now it’s time to analyse all data, learn, iterate and be back on the launch pad as soon as possible.”
The rocket was not expected to reach orbit on its first mission, the company said. Spectrum is designed to carry satellites weighing up to 1000 kilograms into low-Earth orbit, though its first flight did not include a payload.
Its flight was originally planned for 24 March, but was rescheduled due to poor weather.
Launch vehicles for the second and third Spectrum flights are now in production. No launch dates have been set.
Andøya is the first orbital launch site in continental Europe. Isar Aerospace signed a contract with the Norwegian Space Agency earlier this month to launch two ocean surveillance satellites from the site by 2028, using a Spectrum rocket.
Isar Aerospace has received more than EU€400 million in funding since founding in 2018, and including investors like the NATO Innovation Fund. Its Series C round in June raised over €220 million.
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