Spectrum’s qualifying second launch

Isar Aerospace will countdown to the second launch of its Spectrum rocket, from Andøya Spaceport in northern Norway.

Watch the launch live through Isar Aerospace, broadcast will start about one hour before liftoff that is no earlier than 20:00 GMT/21:00 CET on 21 January.

Isar Aerospace’s two-stage launch vehicle Spectrum is 28 m tall, 2 m in diameter and, with its ten engines, it is targeting to launch payloads of up to 1000 kg to low Earth orbit.

This launch comes just ten months after the rocket’s first test flight, that flew for 30 seconds, clearing the launch pad and proved Spectrum can achieve one of the hardest parts of space transportation: liftoff.

First passengers

Unlike the test flight in 2025, for this second Spectrum launch Isar Aerospace has selected six passengers, five commercial and educational cubesats and an experiment that aims to prove new technologies in orbit around Earth and provide educational experiences for students in Europe.

"With the second Spectrum launcher on the launchpad in Norway, we are witnessing a clear signal of Europe’s burgeoning commercial space transportation services,” says ESA’s Director General Josef Aschbacher, “Isar Aerospace is poised to rise to a great challenge, one that will be instrumental in advancing a resilient and autonomous Europe in space.”

“These are exciting times for European space transportation, as we witness new actors developing and launching new vehicles,” said Toni Tolker-Nielsen, ESA’s Director of Space Transportation, “regardless of the outcome of this second flight, it will be another step to make European launch services market more diverse and resilient. Isar Aerospace will have advanced its capabilities and gained valuable experience.”

“This qualification flight is a deliberate step toward delivering sovereign access to space for Europe and allied nations. Just ten months after proving that launch vehicles can be designed, built, and launched from continental European soil, we’re ready to fly again. Europe’s immediate need for space access is clear. Rapid iteration is essential to developing space capabilities precisely when they are required,” said Daniel Metzler, CEO and Co‑founder of Isar Aerospace.” 

Challenge accepted

Initially supported by ESA’s Business Incubation Centre, Isar Aerospace has received several rounds of co-funding as part of ESA’s Boost! programme that helps commercial initiatives offering space transportation services. ESA’s Boost! Programme is also supporting this second Spectrum flight and scaling-up of production facilities.

In 2025 Isar Aerospace was selected alongside four other European space transportation companies for the European Launcher Challenge. As a first important milestone, the European Launcher Challenge requires launch service providers to successfully achieve an orbital launch no later than 2027. If successful, this upcoming flight would demonstrate the ability of the Spectrum launch system to reach orbit for Isar Aerospace in the context of the European Launcher Challenge programme.