Munich-based startup Isar Aerospace successfully launched its Spectrum rocket into orbit on September 5, 2026, becoming the first commercial company to reach orbit from European soil, deploying its vehicle from Andoya Spaceport in northern Norway in approximately seven minutes after liftoff. The 28-meter rocket, powered by nine Aquila engines on its first stage burning propane and liquid oxygen, carried five CubeSats selected through a German Space Agency competition and one ESA-linked technology experiment into low Earth orbit. This success came on the vehicle’s second flight attempt, following a failure approximately 30 seconds after liftoff in March 2025, after which the company spent 18 months on extensive testing and development. In June 2026, Isar closed a funding round of approximately 270 million euros, pushing its valuation to around 2 billion euros, and in August 2026 received a 200 million euro contract from the European Space Agency under its European Launcher Challenge, beating the 2027 deadline by roughly one year.
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