Rocket launched into orbit from Europe for first time ever – what we know
- German rocket company Isar Aerospace has made history by successfully completing the first orbital launch from European soil, lifting off from the Andøya Spaceport in northern Norway.
- The Onward and Upward mission used the firm’s two-stage Spectrum rocket to deliver six commercial and educational CubeSats along with a non-deployable scientific experiment into low Earth orbit.
- European Space Agency director general Josef Aschbacher praised the historic launch as an astounding achievement that marks a major step towards developing an autonomous European spaceflight sector.
- The successful flight follows previous setbacks and delays, including a failed test in March 2025 when an earlier rocket crashed less than a minute after takeoff.
- Isar Aerospace chief executive Daniel Metzler stated that European spaceflight has entered a new chapter, with the startup now aiming to rapidly scale up production to meet global demand and rival companies such as SpaceX.
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