A German start-up has become the first commercial entity to launch a rocket into orbit from Europe, marking a leap forward for the continent's space ambitions. Isar Aerospace's Spectrum launch vehicle successfully carried five small satellites into orbit after blasting off from Norway's Andoya Space Center. It was the second attempt by the Munich-based company, founded in 2018, after its first launch 18 months ago lasted just 30 seconds before crashing.

The second launch had been delayed by poor weather, technical problems, and a stray boat near the site. Isar's chief executive Daniel Metzler called the successful blast-off "history" and a breakthrough that would "shape Europe's strategic, economic and technological future". Speaking at a press conference, Metzler said Isar would press on to tackle the huge backlog in global space launch capacity, noting there is "hardware all over the world that is literally stuck on Earth right now".

Even before the successful launch, the company's future capacity was fully booked until the end of 2028. Isar achieved a valuation of about €2 billion in its last funding round in June, which raised €270 million. The achievement comes as Europe seeks to reduce reliance on the US, prompted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and increasing distrust towards Washington.

European entities made just seven successful launches into orbit in 2025, all from French Guiana, compared to about 180 from the US, the vast majority by Space X, and about 90 from China. With [Donald] Trump's second term, Europe has been learning the hard way that we need to have our own sovereign capabilities, said Metzler. Isar's two-stage Spectrum rocket is 28 metres tall and designed for small to medium satellite launches.