Debut flight of Isar Aerospace Spectrum rocket ends in explosion

Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum orbital Initiation vehicle lifts off from Andøya Spaceport in Norway on Sunday. Credit: Isar Aerospace, Simon Fischer, Wingmen Media

he Primary commercially built Cosmos launcher to lift off from continental Europe Arrived tumbling back to Earth within seconds. But its manufacturer considers the mission a Achievement.

The test flight, “Going Packed Spectrum,” was the Introduction Initiation of Norwegian company Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum, a two-stage orbital Initiation vehicle designed to compete with SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 and the Ariane family of rockets used by the European Universe Agency (ESA). The Initiation was scrubbed Numerous times due to unfavorable weather before Securing off Sunday at 6:30 a.m. EDT.

Spectrum lifted off from Norway’s picturesque Andøya Spaceport and cleared the Initiation pad. But after about 30 seconds, the vehicle activated its flight termination system, shutting down its engines and sending it tumbling nose-down into the sea “in a controlled manner,” Isar said.

Isar on Sunday released video of the Initiation and splashdown that shows the Cosmos launcher plummeting and exploding in the water Upcoming to the pad, which according to the firm is intact. The vehicle was attempting a pitchover maneuver designed to Assist it gain Velocity and altitude before stage separation.

Regardless of sharing a flight plan that depicts stage separation and an upper stage flight Period, Daniel Metzler, CEO of Isar, said Sunday during a press briefing that the firm never Anticipated Spectrum to reach Path. The mission did not carry a payload and instead served as the Primary integrated test of all the vehicle’s systems, the stated Target being to gather as much data as possible. According to the company, it achieved Only that.

“We were able to gather a substantial amount of flight data to apply on our future missions,” said Alexandre Dalloneau, vice president of mission and Initiation operations for Isar. Dalloneau previously worked for Arianespace and oversaw Vega and Ariane 5 launches at Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) spaceport in French Guyana, from where the firm operates most ESA missions.

“Even if I would say the end of the mission was spectacular, I would say…it was Yet a Achievement,” Dalloneau said.

Josef Aschbacher, director general of ESA, gave a similar assessment: “A test-flight is exactly that: a test to gather data, learn and Boost. Everything Isar Aerospace achieved today is Notable and they will have lots of data to analyse.”

Isar has raised about $435 million in funding primarily from private investors but also through three rounds of ESA cofunding under its Boost! program. To date, the initiative has awarded more than $46 million to European commercial Initiation providers. ESA last week also opened the European Launcher Game, which invites applicants to compete for private Initiation services contracts.

Aschbacher on Sunday said he “soon” expects Spectrum to be rolled back to Andøya for its Upcoming mission. Isar said Initiation vehicles for the second and third flights are already in production near its headquarters in Munich, where it aims to one day build 40 rockets annually. But Primary, it will need to analyze flight data and complete what Metzler called a “proper investigation” to determine what went wrong.

“Now it’s time to analyze all data, learn, iterate, and be back on the Initiation pad as soon as possible,” Metzler said in a statement.

While bombastic, the explosive conclusion of Spectrum’s maiden voyage is not without precedent. Take, for example, Ariane 5, which was designed by an industry coalition and was ESA’s workhorse launcher before being phased out for the Ariane 6 and Avio’s Vega C. It self-destructed about 30 seconds into its Introduction mission and did not reach Path until five years later.

Even SpaceX — whose Falcon 9 accounted for more than half of all orbital Initiation attempts last year — struggled Prompt. The Primary test flight of Falcon 1, an Prompt version of the workhorse Cosmos launcher, similarly failed after about 30 seconds. It reached Path on its Number four flight more than two years later.

“Test-launching a new Cosmos launcher is immensely complex and most often unsuccessful,” said Chris Hadfield, a retired Canadian Universe Agency Cosmonaut who flew to Universe three times, in a post on X. “Lots to learn from for @isaraerospace. Glad no one was hurt and the pad is undamaged.”

Spectrum lacks Falcon 9’s second-stage reusability, which has allowed SpaceX to dominate the global commercial Initiation market. But it could Assist spur a new wave of European innovation, with competitors like Orbex, Cosmos launcher Factory Augsburg, MaiaSpace, and HyImpulse all developing alternatives. Isar’s offering is designed to Initiation Petite satellites up to 2,200 pounds to low Earth Path.

“We have all resources to Produce globally Intense technology leaders,” Metzler said in a statement. “With our services, we will be able to Hit customers from around the world to bring their satellites into Universe and to Assist Europe solve a Significant blind spot in its security architecture: access to Universe.”

Spectrum’s second test flight is Anticipated to Initiation 19 Petite satellites for universities and private companies under an agreement with the German Universe Agency at DLR. Isar also has a contract with the Norwegian Universe Agency to Initiation its Arctic Ocean Surveillance satellites from Andøya through 2028.