European startup Isar Aerospace to launch orbital rocket on 1st test flight

A private European aerospace company is set to make the first test flight of its orbital launch vehicle from Norway on Monday.

The launch window for its Spectrum rocket from the island of Andoya in northern Norway is 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm local time, said Isar Aerospace, which is headquartered in Munich.

The launch is subject to weather, safety and range infrastructure, and the company said it also could conduct the test flight later in the week.

The 28-meter- (91-foot-) Spectrum is a two-stage launch vehicle designed for small and medium-sized satellites.

The company largely rules out the possibility of the rocket reaching orbit on its first complete flight, saying it would consider a 30-second flight a success. Isar Aerospace aims to collect as much data and experience as possible on the first integrated test of all the systems on its in-house-developed launch vehicle.

The startup, which says it has raised more than 400 million euros ($435 million) in capital, hopes to build up to 40 launch vehicles per year in the future in a plant outside of Munich. The launch vehicles are all to be used for putting satellites into orbit.

Isar Aerospace is separate from the European Space Agency, or ESA, which is funded by its 23 members states.

ESA has been launching rockets and satellites into orbit for years, but mainly from French Guiana an overseas department of France in South America and from Cape Canaveral in Florida.