German startup Isar Aerospace became the first commercial organization in history to launch a rocket into orbit from Europe.
German startup Isar Aerospace became the first commercial organization in history to launch a rocket into orbit from Europe.
According to the Financial Times, the day before, Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum launch vehicle successfully launched five small satellites into orbit during a launch from the launch pad at the Andeja Space Center in Norway.
Isar CEO Daniel Metzler said the successful launch made history and was a breakthrough that «will shape the strategic, economic and technological future of Europe.»
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, Metzler said Isar would work to overcome Europe’s huge backlog in space launches.
«We have a huge portfolio of projects worth tens of billions of euros that need to be implemented,» he noted.
Metzler added that there has been a sharp jump in demand over the past 12 months, with requests from defense-related customers increasing from about 15% of the total to about 60%.
«With Donald Trump’s second term, Europe has learned the hard way that we need our own sovereign capabilities,» he said.
Even before the company successfully launched a satellite into orbit, its future capacity was fully booked through the end of 2028. The new Isar plant in Munich aims to produce 40 rockets per year.
Isar’s 28-meter-tall two-stage Spectrum rocket is designed for launching small and medium-sized satellites with payloads of up to 1,000 kg.
Founded in 2018, Isar is considered one of Europe’s most promising startups as the continent seeks to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX, part of a broader European effort to reduce its dependence on the United States.
Isar reached a valuation of around €2 billion in its latest funding round in June, which raised €270 million.
As dev.ua reported, in March last year, the space rocket of the startupIsar Aerospace exploded 30 seconds after launch. However, the startup then announced a successful test, as Spectrum was able to complete one of the most difficult stages of the launch — liftoff.
