The first orbit rocket launched from European soil exploded for a few seconds after rising

The European market attempted to catch up for the first time in the satellite launch industry, ending in a massive explosion on the coast of Norway, with a German-made rocket crashing and burning.

German startup Isar Aerospace launched a spectrum rocket from Andøya Spaceport at 6:30 a.m. Sunday for its first test. The rocket successfully lifted from the launch pad, taking about 30 seconds in the air, and then it began to fall to the Arctic Sea, creating a huge fireball on the water.

Start, learn, repeat.#FromisArtoStospace #Onterfullspectrum pic.twitter.com/nyqkkbtisv

– Isar Aerospace (@isaraerospace) March 30, 2025

The company later revealed that the flight was terminated shortly after it was launched and that the launch vehicle fell into the sea in a controlled manner. “Our first test flight met all our expectations and was a huge success,” Daniel Metzler, CEO and co-founder of Isar Aerospace, said in an emailed statement. “We did a clean liftoff, flew for 30 seconds, and even verified our flight termination system. We proved that we can not only design and build, but also launch rockets.”

With the launch, Isar became the first European space company to launch orbital rockets from the European continent. Its spectrum rocket is designed to transport small and medium-sized satellites into orbit, and Germany is one of several European countries that want to enter the global industry for satellite development. The industry is currently dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, whose main Rockets (Falcon 9) have launched more than 400 times in the past 15 years. French company Arianespace is also engaged in the launch of satellites, although it uses a spaceport in Guyana, France, South America.

European countries have been trying to keep up with the commercial space industry, with few options for launch vehicles. After invading Ukraine and subsequently losing opportunities against the Sucai Rockets, the European market has been eagerly waiting for the Arianaspace’s Ariane 6 as the next generation of Europe, establishing ties with Russia and subsequently losing ties to Russia. The Ariane 6 suffered a number of delays until it launched on its inaugural flight in June 2024. However, this is still not perfect as the Rocket’s second phase failed to raise its height and deployed two payloads. The Rockets redeemed itself earlier this year, deploying high-resolution reconnaissance satellites to orbit in March.

Obviously, the Rockets business is difficult. However, ISAR aerospace has not derailed due to its undesirable launch. The company is already planning the second and third launches of Spectrum Rocket while analyzing data collected during the first flight to determine the root cause of the fatal anomalies.

“Today, we have laid the foundation for the rising global demand for flexible satellite launch services. Now is the time to analyze all the data, learn, iterate and return to the launch pad as soon as possible,” Metzler said.