Isar Aerospace put its two-stage Spectrum rocket into low Earth orbit on September 5, 2026, making it the first fully commercial orbital rocket launched from Continental Europe. The Munich-based company launched from a Norwegian spaceport. Its first attempt in March 2025 ended 30 seconds after liftoff when the vehicle crashed into the sea and exploded.
CEO Daniel Metzler called launch 'the largest bottleneck for the global space industry' and positioned Spectrum as a direct alternative for commercial and institutional customers. That framing matters: Europe has long depended on non-European providers for orbital access, and this changes the competitive landscape in a concrete, not rhetorical, way.
The full story at The Verge covers payload deployment details and what Isar plans next. If you care about the structure of the launch market outside the US, read it.
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