The first orbital rocket launch from continental Europe ended in failure on Sunday as Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum rocket crashed moments after takeoff from Norway’s Andoya Spaceport. The rocket, developed by the German start-up, experienced problems shortly after liftoff, emitting smoke before falling back to Earth and exploding upon impact. The event was streamed live on YouTube.
Despite the crash, Isar Aerospace, which had acknowledged that reaching orbit was unlikely on this first test, remained optimistic. “We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight, and validated our Flight Termination System,” said Daniel Metzler, co-founder and CEO. The test flight provided valuable data for future launches.
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The Spectrum rocket, with a height of 28 meters and a capacity to carry one tonne of payload, is part of Europe’s efforts to build a new space economy. Although this test flight carried no payload, two more rockets are in development.
This marks a significant moment for Europe’s private space sector, which is still in its early stages compared to the U.S. However, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck called the event an important milestone for European space travel, hailing it as a step towards securing the continent’s independent access to space.
