ISU - Summer 2024

Isar Aerospace signs up for Andoya launch pad in Norway

Andoya launch pad. Credits: Andoya Space Port

Berlin, 15. April 2021 – Norwegian exclusivity: Isar Aerospace has signed an agreement with Norwegian Andøya Space to secure exclusive access for up to twenty years to one of its launch pads on the island Andøya.

“We are very happy and proud that we were able to secure our dedicated launch pad on Andøya, the best-funded spaceport in continental Europe. The length and the exclusive nature of this agreement enable us to provide long-term turnkey launch solutions from European soil”, says Daniel Metzler, CEO of Isar Aerospace. “The exclusivity provides us and, even more importantly, our clients with the greatest flexibility and planning security to bring small and medium satellites into earth’s orbit at any time with maximum flexibility and cost-efficiency.”

Given its location far north at a coastline, Andøya Space can offer launch inclinations ranging from 87.4 to 108 degrees. These are favorable for sun-synchronous as well as polar orbits. The flightpath ensures a trajectory whose ground track does not cross populated areas.

Andøya Space has a long history in the suborbital launch business. Since the first launch of a civilian, suborbital research rocket in 1962, around 1.200 launches of sounding rockets and long-duration balloons have taken place at Andøya. The company is now in the process of establishing a new launch site on Andøya island for small and medium satellites for polar and sun-synchronous orbits.

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