German company becomes first in Europe to launch fully commercial orbital rocket
Summary
A German company called Isar Aerospace successfully launched the first fully commercial rocket in Europe to reach orbit. The rocket, named Spectrum, lifted off from a spaceport in Norway and reached low-Earth orbit about seven minutes later.Key Facts
- Isar Aerospace was founded in 2018 by three students from the Technical University of Munich.
- The company’s rocket, Spectrum, is 92 feet (28 meters) tall and has two stages.
- The launch took place at Andøya Spaceport in northern Norway, inside the Arctic Circle.
- Isar Aerospace became the first European private company to launch a fully commercial rocket into orbit.
- It took about eight years and approximately $1 billion in private funding for Isar to reach this milestone.
- The company now employs nearly 500 people and plans to increase production to meet global demand.
- Europe’s current main launch providers rely heavily on government funding and produce rockets that are less competitive.
- Isar’s success could bring more competition and lower costs to the European space launch market.
This is a fact-based summary from The Actual News. Click below to read the complete story directly from the original source.