German startup Isar Aerospace successfully launched its Spectrum rocket on the evening of September 5 from the Andøya spaceport in Norway. This was the rocket's second test flight, according to infohub.kz.
About four minutes after liftoff, Spectrum reached an altitude of approximately 100 kilometers, which is considered the edge of space. Later, communication with the rocket was lost as it went beyond the range of ground stations.
This flight marked the first time a private European company's rocket reached space from European soil. In March 2025, the first launch of Spectrum ended in failure, with the rocket crashing about 30 seconds after liftoff.
This time, Spectrum carried five scientific satellites developed by several universities and a scientific experiment. It is not yet known whether all the payloads were successfully deployed into orbit.
The second launch of Spectrum had been postponed several times due to technical issues and safety concerns. Isar Aerospace expects to conduct several more launches before the end of the year. Once serial production begins, the company plans to launch about 40 rockets annually. The successful flight of Spectrum is expected to help Europe reduce its dependence on American companies for launching satellites into orbit. Currently, SpaceX launches a significant portion of European satellites.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that India launched its first private orbital rocket, Vikram-1.