Window opens tonight at 20:00 UTC / 22:00 CEST from Andøya, Norway. Livestream from 21:00 CEST.
Isar Aerospace is set to fly the second mission of its Spectrum launch vehicle tonight from its dedicated launch complex at Andøya Space. The company has designated the mission “Onward and Upward.”
The attempt follows component replacements and acceptance testing, subsequent stage-level tests, and a completed Wet Dress Rehearsal after the vehicle’s inaugural test flight. Launch remains subject to weather, safety and range clearance.
What is different this time
Flight 2 serves a dual purpose: it is Spectrum’s qualification mission, and the first to carry payloads.
Six are manifested – five CubeSats and one experiment:
- CyBEEsat – TU Berlin
- TriSat-S – University of Maribor / SkyLabs
- FramSat-1 – NTNU
- SpaceTeamSat1 – TU Wien Space Team
- Platform 6 – EnduroSat
- Let It Go (experiment) – Dcubed
The manifest is not commercial. It was selected through the German Space Agency at DLR’s first Microlauncher Competition, which Isar Aerospace won, supported under ESA’s Boost! programme. That shapes how the flight should be read: a European institutional demand signal converted into a flight opportunity, carrying universities and small companies that would otherwise struggle to find a ride.
The vehicle
Spectrum is 28 metres long, two metres in diameter, built from carbon composites, and burns liquid oxygen and liquid propane. The first stage carries nine Aquila engines at 75 kN each; the second stage a single Aquila vacuum engine at 95 kN. Stated capability is 1,000 kg to low Earth orbit and 700 kg to sun-synchronous orbit.
Isar Aerospace holds exclusive access to the first launch complex at Andøya Space, built to its specifications. Andøya, operational since late 2023, is the first orbital spaceport on the European mainland.
The number worth watching
Alongside the launch, Isar Aerospace confirmed production is beginning at its new headquarters with capacity for up to 40 rockets per year, and that groundwork has started on its Canadian launch pad.
That figure is the more consequential item. Forty vehicles a year is a serial-production target rather than a demonstration one, and it speaks to the constraint that has defined European launch for a decade – not whether a rocket reaches orbit, but whether enough can be built to matter.
Daniel Metzler, CEO and Co-Founder: “Access to space remains one of the biggest constraints for the space industry and national security architecture. We have built the infrastructure and capabilities to change that.”
His objective for tonight is more measured: “Learn as much as we can, go as far as we can.”
Status: pre-launch. This item will be updated with the flight outcome.
Founded in 2018 and headquartered near Munich, Isar Aerospace employs over 400 people from more than 50 nations across five locations.
