Isar Aerospace says second flight reaches orbit and deploys payloads
The German launch company says its ‘Onward and Upward’ mission completed orbital insertion from Norway, while satellite status remains under confirmation.
Isar Aerospace says its ‘Onward and Upward’ mission reached orbit and deployed payloads on 5 September, marking the company’s second flight. The Spectrum vehicle lifted off from the company’s launch complex at Andøya Space in Norway at 10:12 pm CEST.
The company said the mission completed MaxQ, main-engine cutoff, stage separation, second-stage ignition and circularisation before spacecraft separation. Isar Aerospace is working with customers to confirm the status of the satellites.
Isar Aerospace said the payloads were selected through the German Space Agency at DLR’s Microlauncher Competition, which is funded through ESA Boost!. The competition provides educational institutions and start-ups with access to space.
The company described the flight as the first time a European commercial space company had delivered satellites into orbit on its second flight. That record claim, along with the condition of individual payloads and the mission’s orbital parameters, has not been independently confirmed in the supplied source material.
Isar Aerospace said Spectrum launch vehicles 3–7 are already in production. It is also building a launch complex in Nova Scotia, Canada, and a 40,000-square-metre production facility in Europe.
Founded in 2018 and headquartered near Munich, Isar Aerospace says it employs more than 400 people across five international locations and develops, manufactures and tests its launch vehicles largely in-house.
