Updated 11:30 a.m. Eastern with details from a media briefing.
WASHINGTON — The first launch of Isar Aerospace’ Spectrum rocket failed March 30 when the vehicle lost attitude control seconds after liftoff and plummeted back to Earth, but the company still considered the launch a successful test flight.
The Spectrum rocket lifted off from Andøya Spaceport in northern Norway at 6:30 a.m. Eastern on the first orbital launch attempt by a commercial entity from continental Europe outside Russia. Weather conditions had postponed the launch by more than a week. The company had a launch period of March 20 through March 31 set by a license the company received from Norwegian regulators March 17.
The vehicle soared into clear skies, but appeared to lose attitude control about 25 seconds after liftoff, shortly after the announcer for the company’s launch webcast said the vehicle would make a pitchover maneuver, designed to allow the rocket to gain horizontal speed as well as altitude.
Within five seconds, the vehicle completely pitched over and started descending. While the webcast cut away from the rocket, an explosion could be heard on the broadcast about 10 seconds later. Video from VG, a Norwegian publication, showed the rocket hitting the surface near the pad and exploding.
Company executives said in a call with reporters about four hours after liftoff that the vehicle activated its flight termination system, which shuts off the rocket’s engines, at the T+30 second mark. The vehicle then fell in an “aerodynamic, stable phase” into a planned zone in waters near the pad, said Alexandre Dalloneau, vice president of mission and launch operations.
“The pad looks healthy, which is good,” said Daniel Metzler, chief executive of Isar Aerospace, on the call.
Officials declined to speculate on what caused the vehicle to lose control. “We saw that the vehicle was tumbling, so there was some form of loss of control,” Metzler said. He said it would be at least a few days before the company could review the data to gain insights on the potential cause, part of a “proper investigation” that will include Andøya Spaceport and Norwegian regulators.
Despite failing half a minute after liftoff, Isar Aerospace called the test flight, which it named “Going Full Spectrum,” a success. “It was a success because we met all of the objectives that we had for that flight,” he argued. “We didn’t reach orbit but we learned a ton from it, and it sets us up very well for the second flight that’s ahead of us.”
“With this test, we were able to gather a substantial amount of flight data to apply on our future missions,” said Dalloneau, who previously oversaw Ariane, Soyuz and Vega launches from French Guiana. “Even if I would say the end of the mission was spectacular, I would say — and I insist on that due to my previous experience — it was still a success.”
“We never expected that we would get to orbit” on this test flight, Metzler said on the call. “We set out to gather data primarily, and that is something that we have successfully achieved. We gathered tons of data.”
The second Spectrum rocket is “quite progressed” in production, but he said it was too early to say when the company might be ready for a second launch as it analyzes the data from this flight. “We’ll make the adjustments that are necessary and try to be back with vehicle number two on the pad as early as possible.”
“We’re super happy,” he said of the flight. “It’s a time for people to be proud of, for Europe, frankly, also to be proud of.”
Spectrum is a two-stage launch vehicle designed to place up to 1,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit and 700 kilograms into sun-synchronous orbit. The first stage uses nine of the company’s Aquila engines, powered by liquid oxygen and liquid propane, while the second stage uses a single vacuum-optimized Aquila engine.
Isar Aerospace has raised more than 400 million euros ($430 million) to date, including more than 65 million euros in an extension of an earlier Series C round in June 2024. Company executives noted before the launch that the second and third Spectrum rockets are in production.
Munich-based Isar is one of several European companies developing small launch vehicles, none of which has made it to orbit. Another German company, Rocket Factory Augsburg, was preparing for a first launch of its RFA ONE rocket from SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands when the vehicle’s first stage was destroyed in a static-fire test in August 2024.
The failure of the first Spectrum launch comes just after the European Space Agency kicked off a competition to support new European vehicles. ESA issued a call for proposals March 24 for the European Launcher Challenge, seeking proposals from European companies offering launch services or to upgrade launch vehicles. ESA will select a “bouquet” of eligible companies this summer and seek funding from them from ESA’s member states at its ministerial conference in November.
“Success to get off the pad, and lots of data already obtained. I am sure @isaraerospace will learn a lot,” Josef Aschbacher, director general of ESA, posted on social media just after the Spectrum launch failure. “Rocket launch is hard. Never give up, move forward with even more energy !”
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