The German aerospace startup Isar Aerospace successfully launched the Spectrum launch vehicle, which delivered five satellites into low Earth orbit. This launch marked Europe's achievement of sovereign access to space.
The rocket launch took place on September 5th at 20:12 UTC from the Anania spaceport located in Norway. The mission's live broadcast was interrupted eighteen minutes after liftoff due to a planned loss of signal from the onboard cameras.
Before the live feed was cut off, the rocket demonstrated successful passage through all critical flight phases. These included stage separation, ignition of the second stage engines, jettisoning of the fairing, and subsequent shutdown of the second stage engine after reaching the designated trajectory.
Representatives of Isar Aerospace emphasized that this startup is the first commercial space company from Europe to successfully achieve satellite deployment into orbit on a repeat attempt. CEO and co-founder Daniel Metzler noted that the team achieved results in a short time that previously required decades from the European space industry, thereby ensuring Europe's sovereign presence in space.