European rocket crashes on debut flight
March 31, 2025
A new European rocket designed to handle small to mid-sized satellites failed on its first ‘demo’ flight from Norway on March 30th.
The Spectrum rocket, from Germany-based Isar Aerospace, successfully lifted off from the pad but failed a few seconds later, falling back into the Norwegian bay adjacent to the Andøya Spaceport launch site.
A post-launch briefing gave details, but not as to the cause of the failure. The rocket lost attitude control about 25 seconds into the launch. Then the rocket pitched over and started to fall, making an explosive splash into the planned zone near the launch pad.
This was the first rocket launch from Andøya Spaceport, which opened in 2023 along the Norwegian Sea in northern Norway. The ground stations and facilities of the spaceport were built specifically for Isar Aerospace and the Spectrum rocket
However, Isar and Rocket Factory claimed the launch as a success for what was the first private European company to launch a rocket from European soil. Rival launches by Arianespace launch from South America.
“The pad looks healthy, which is good,” said Daniel Metzler, chief executive of Isar Aerospace, on the call.
“We saw that the vehicle was tumbling, so there was some form of loss of control,” Metzler added. He said it would be at least a few days before the company could review the data to gain insights on the potential cause, part of a “proper investigation” into the launch.
“With this test, we were able to gather a substantial amount of flight data to apply on our future missions,” said Alexandre Dalloneau, VP/mission and launch operations, who previously oversaw Ariane, Soyuz and Vega launches from French Guiana. “Even if I would say the end of the mission was spectacular, I would say — and I insist on that due to my previous experience — it was still a success.”
Spectrum measures some 95 feet (28 metres) tall. SpaceX’s Falcon 9, by comparison, stands 230 feet (70 metres) high. Isar Aerospace has promoted Spectrum as a small to medium-lift launch vehicle, capable of delivering up to 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms) to low-Earth orbit.
Orbex Space, which hopes to see more European launches, congratulated the exercise. “Congratulations to Isara Aerospace after today’s Spectrum launch attempt. We understand that space is challenging but every step brings valuable lessons & strengthens the path forward for Isar & for Europe’s space industry. Well done to everyone who gave their all on this mission!”
ESA Director-General Josef Aschbacher said in a statement after Isar’s March 30th launch: “A test-flight is exactly that: a test to gather data, learn and improve. Everything Isar Aerospace achieved today is remarkable and they will have lots of data to analyse. I applaud the teams for getting this far and I am confident that we will see the next Spectrum on the launch pad ready for test-flight 2 liftoff soon.”
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