Update: Isar Aerospace Announces A New Date For Its First Orbital Launch

A new release from Andoya Space reveals that their spaceport will be active between 20-30 March 2025, and we might see the launch of the Isar Aerospace Spectrum rocket within this period.

A New Launch Date Announced

Updated on 26 March

Isar Aerospace has announced that the second launch window for the first test flight of Spectrum opens not earlier than Thursday, 27 March, from 12:30 pm to 03:30 pm CET. However, the launch date remains subject to weather, safety and range infrastructure.

Isar Aerospace Scrubs Historic Spectrum Rocket Test Flight Due to Wind

Updated on 24 March

Isar Aerospace’s highly anticipated first test flight of the Spectrum rocket from Andøya Spaceport, Norway, was called off due to unfavourable wind conditions. The launch window, set on 24 March between 12:30 PM and 3:30 PM CET, ultimately closed without liftoff.

Despite the delay, the rocket and launch infrastructure remain in perfect condition, and the team is already working with Andøya Space to determine a new launch window. The scrubbed attempt still marks a major milestone for Europe’s private space sector, highlighting the growing momentum in the region’s commercial launch industry.

Isar Aerospace Spectrum Rocket To Launch From The Andoya Spaceport

On 21 February 2025, Isar Aerospace completed the Stage 1 and 2 static fire tests of their Spectrum rocket. Following this successful stage testing, the final preparations for the rocket’s test flight commenced with its actual launch becoming a reality.

Now there is reason to believe that the inaugural launch of the Spectrum rocket will take place this month. Following the official announcement of launch activity from the Andorya Spaceport on 12 March 2025, the spaceport operator took to their website to reveal their launch partners.

According to Andoya Space, they are “preparing facilities to host up to 3-4 different launch partners.” However, they proceed to reveal only one of their launch partners, Isar Aerospace, sharing brief details on the Spectrum carrier rocket, which is capable of carrying a 1000kg payload to orbit.

Also, both test flights for the Spectrum rocket were conducted on the Andoya Spaceport launch site. So it is easy to conclude that the Spectrum Rocket inaugural launch will be part of the coming launches to be conducted between 20-30 March from the Andoya Spaceport.

For now, there is no official information on this inaugural launch from Isar Aerospace, but the firm previously stated that they were working on getting a launch licence. At this moment, there is no formal announcement from the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway (CAA Norway) regarding the launch licence.

What Is The Isar Aerospace Spectrum Rocket Taking To Space?

Despite a lack of statements from both Isar Aerospace and the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway (CAA Norway), it’s clear that this launch is currently underway. But what exactly is the Spectrum rocket taking to space as its payload?

There’s no information on the payload aboard the Spectrum rocket, but we have an idea of what to expect. On 13 December 2021, Isar Aerospace announced payloads for the first flight of the Spectrum launch rocket.

From the announcement, we learn that “five institutions from Germany, Norway and Slovenia with a total of seven small satellites” will launch on the inaugural Spectrum rocket flight. The payload announced at the time was five 3U CubeSats, two 1U CubeSats, and an accompanying Exolaunch dispenser.

While the nature of the payloads might change, this gives us an idea of what the Spectrum rocket will take into orbit. This coming launch will be groundbreaking for Europe, as it might help pave the way for future space launches from the Andoya Spaceport.