German space rocket reaches orbit in Europe's first commercial launch

German startup Isar Aerospace on Sunday said it would rapidly expand satellite deployments after the first orbital launch of its Spectrum rocket from Arctic Norway, a milestone for Europe's efforts to secure independent access to space.

The uncrewed Spectrum became the first commercial rocket to reach orbit from continental Europe, marking a breakthrough for a region where several countries are seeking a foothold in the fast-growing market for satellite launches.

"Launch capability is right now the biggest bottleneck in the entire industry," Isar co-founder and CEO Daniel Metzler told reporters.

He said privately owned Isar remains well-funded and that an initial public offering "is not on the table".

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed Saturday's launch in a statement, calling it "the beginning of a new era".

Merz visited Isar's launch site in March, underscoring Europe's efforts to establish greater autonomy as the global order once championed by the United States is shifting under US President Donald Trump.

Security in 'turbulent times'

Blasting off from Norway's Arctic Andoeya Spaceport, Spectrum carried five small satellites along with an in-flight technology experiment, according to Isar. The rocket is designed to serve the growing market for small and medium-sized payloads.

"Europe's independent access to space just got a major boost," EU Defence and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius wrote on social media platform X.

It was Isar's second launch, coming 18 months after the company's first rocket plunged into the sea and exploded in a fiery spectacle shortly after takeoff from the same site. No one was injured.

Isar said it already has five more rockets in production and is now focused on scaling up operations to meet rising demand, with a long-term goal of conducting around 40 launches a year.

The German company is developing a second launch site in Nova Scotia in eastern Canada, and said on Sunday this could be ready for lift-offs in 2028.

Saturday's launch was intended as "both the vehicle's qualification mission and its first flight carrying payload," the Bavarian company said.

"The fact that we can now launch satellites from Andoeya strengthens Norwegian and European security in the turbulent times we live in," said Norway's minister of industry and commerce, Cecilie Myrseth.

Global players in the satellite launch market include Elon Musk's SpaceX, which launches from the United States, and French ArianeGroup, a joint venture between Airbus and Safran that uses a spaceport in South America's French Guiana.

SpaceX, a company spanning rockets, satellites and AI, in June listed on the Nasdaq exchange in a record initial public offering.

Sweden, with its Esrange launch site, and Britain with its SaxaVord Spaceport in the Scottish Shetland Islands, are the nearest rivals to the Norwegian site, all of which aim to give Europe greater autonomy in space flights.

Isar last week said it had secured about €200 million ($232 million) from the European Space Agency to help fund development of new rockets and expand its testing and launch infrastructure.