A test rocket aimed at kickstarting satellite launches from Europe fell to the ground and exploded less than a minute after takeoff from a Norwegian spaceport on Sunday, in what the German startup Isar Aerospace had described as an initial test.
The uncrewed Spectrum rocket was billed as the first attempt at an orbital flight to originate from Europe, where several nations, including Sweden and Britain, have said they want a share of the growing market for commercial space missions.
Isar Aerospace, which had warned that the initial launch could end prematurely, said the test produced extensive data that its team could learn from.
The Spectrum is designed for small and medium-sized satellites weighing up to one metric tonne, although it did not carry a payload on its maiden voyage from the Andøya spaceport in Arctic Norway.
The mission was intended to collect data on Isar Aerospace’s launch vehicle in a first integrated test of all its systems, the Bavarian company said last week.
The company, headquartered in Munich, had previously said it would consider a 30-second flight a success. While not intended to reach orbit on its first mission, the test marked the first commercial orbital flight from a launchpad on the European continent (excluding Russia).
European countries have long relied on paying for launches from Russian space stations but the relationship has broken down since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
US companies, notably SpaceX, Lockheed Martin and Boeing, are emerging as big players in a budding industry to send satellites, such as broadband internet or observation equipment, into space for governments and private businesses. Chinese companies are also seeking to capitalise on the new sector.
Many estimates suggest the global space industry could generate revenues of more than $1tn within the next two decades.
Isar Aerospace intends Spectrum to be able to launch up to 1,000kg into low-Earth orbit, an area of space up to about 1,200 miles high where most satellites shoot around the globe. Founded in 2018, the start-up developed its rocket almost entirely in-house.
“Whatever the outcome, Isar Aerospace’s upcoming Spectrum launch will be historic: the first commercial orbital launch from mainland Europe,” the European Space Agency director, Josef Aschbacher, said before the test flight. “The support and co-funding the European Space Agency has given Isar Aerospace and other launch service provider startups is paying off for increased autonomy in Europe.”
Last year, a report by Mario Draghi, a former European Central Bank president and former prime minister of Italy, recommended Europe could boost its economic growth by recognising space as a key sector. Independent access to space is also increasingly seen as a geopolitical and security issue.
Europe’s space industry has also seen delays in the development of the Ariane 6 rocket and the suspension of the European Vega-C satellite launcher after an accident.
In addition to Isar Aerospace, Europe is home to Germany’s HyImpulse and Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), the French groups Latitude and MaiaSpace, and Spain’s PLD Space.
Several destinations around Europe have been marked for spaceport projects, including the British Shetland Islands, the Portuguese Azores and Esrange in Sweden. Coastal areas near stretches of open water are considered ideal spots for launch sites, as rockets do not have to fly over heavily populated land areas.
Britain has had mixed success as a launch destination. Virgin Orbit, the satellite launch company founded by Richard Branson, filed for bankruptcy in 2023 after its inaugural flight from Cornwall – with a rocket strapped to a Boeing 747 – ended in failure.
Isar Aerospace has signed a contract with the Norwegian space agency to put two maritime surveillance satellites into orbit by 2028.
