German Spectrum Rocket Reaches Orbit: First Private Launch from Mainland Europe

German space startup Isar Aerospace has made history in European spaceflight by successfully launching its two-stage Spectrum rocket into low Earth orbit from Andøya Spaceport in Norway. The flight marked the first successful orbital launch of a commercial rocket from mainland Europe.

Onward and Upward Mission Deploys Five Satellites

The mission, named Onward and Upward, lifted off on September 5 at 10:12 PM CET. The rocket passed through max-Q as planned, shut down its first-stage engines on schedule, separated, and ignited the second stage. After reaching its trajectory, the engine reignited to fine-tune the orbit.

The rocket carried five small CubeSat-format spacecraft and a technology module from research centers:

• University probes CyBEEsat (Technical University of Berlin), TriSat-S (University of Maribor), and SpaceTeamSat1 (Vienna University of Technology);
• Platform 6 from Bulgarian company EnduroSat;
• Norwegian communications satellite FramSat-1.

The successful deployment of the spacecraft into their target orbits was officially confirmed by the European Space Agency (ESA), which called the event a breakthrough for Europe’s independent access to space.

Spectrum Specs and Competition with SpaceX

The Spectrum rocket was designed from scratch by German engineers: standing 28 meters tall and 2 meters in diameter, it is powered by nine Aquila engines on its first stage and one on its second. The engines burn a liquid oxygen and propane mixture. The rocket can deliver up to 1,000 kg to low Earth orbit and up to 700 kg to sun-synchronous orbit.

For the company, this launch served as a full flight qualification after a prototype crashed in March 2025, when the rocket fell into the sea 30 seconds into flight due to a stuck vent valve.

Isar Aerospace is currently assembling five more rockets at a new factory near Munich, designed to produce up to 40 stages annually, and is building a second launch pad in Nova Scotia, Canada.

🚀🇪🇺 HISTORIC: Europe reaches orbit from home soil!

Germany’s Isar Aerospace has successfully completed the second flight of its Spectrum rocket, “Onward and Upward,” from Andøya Spaceport in Norway.

After its first test in March 2025 ended early but delivered valuable data,… pic.twitter.com/x7Vc9T3Q4M

— QuasarShift (@QuasarShift) September 6, 2026

Ahead of the triumphant flight, the startup signed a contract with ESA worth around €197.8 million under the European Launcher Challenge program. The success of Spectrum provides a long-awaited private alternative to the heavy government Ariane rockets and commercial SpaceX flights for light European satellites.