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German space startup Isar Aerospace failed in the maiden launch of its first rocket, Spectrum, on Sunday. This marks the first rocket launched from European soil by a commercial company. The launch took place from the Andoya site in northern Norway after about a week and a half of weather-related delays.
In clear weather, the rocket was launched without a payload for its debut flight. It wobbled slightly in the first few seconds and, about 30 seconds after liftoff, as it began a controlled tilt maneuver to gain horizontal velocity, it went out of control, flipped in the air and plunged downward. A few seconds later, it crashed into the sea near the launch site.
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Footage of the failed launch
(Video: ISAR Aerospace/NASASpaceflight.com / רויטרס)
Company executives later explained that the rocket triggered its flight termination system 30 seconds after launch and crashed into the sea as planned for such cases. They noted that the launch site itself was not damaged.
The company’s CEO, Daniel Metzler, told reporters a few hours after the crash that the cause of the failure was still unclear and that the investigation would take at least several days.
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"The launch was a success because we met all our objectives for this flight," Metzler stressed. "Although we didn’t reach orbit, we learned a lot, gathered tons of data and this puts us in a good position for the second test flight. We weren’t expecting to reach orbit on this flight."
The Spectrum rocket is designed to compete in the small and medium satellite launch market. The two-stage, 28-meter rocket can carry up to 1,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit and smaller payloads to higher orbits. It was originally slated for launch in 2021, but its development was repeatedly delayed.
The company, which has raised over €400 million so far, has already won launch contracts with the German Space Agency (DLR) and the Norwegian Space Agency, but it's now unclear when those will take place. Company representatives said the second and third Spectrum rockets are in advanced production stages but did not specify a date for another test launch.
Last week, the European Space Agency (ESA) issued a call for European space companies to submit proposals for developing new launch vehicles, aiming to boost private space activity on the continent, which lags far behind American and Chinese companies.
"I'm sure Isar will learn a lot [from today's launch]," ESA Director Josef Aschbacher wrote on social media after the crash. "Rocket launches are tough. Never give up, keep pushing forward with even more energy!"