European spaceflight history was made on Saturday evening when Isar Aerospace successfully launched its “Spectrum 2” rocket from Andøya Spaceport.

“This is a historic day,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre of the Labour Party wrote on X after the launch.

He said the successful launch from Andøya marked a breakthrough for Norway as a spacefaring nation and was the result of close cooperation between Norway and Germany, involving Isar Aerospace and Andøya Space.

The rocket is carrying satellites designed to be placed into orbit around Earth, including one built by students at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

“It’s absolutely incredible”

According to NRK, it is the first orbital rocket launched from Western Europe to reach Earth orbit.

The milestone was reached seven minutes after launch. Live images from the rocket reached Earth about 10 minutes after liftoff from Andøya.

“It’s absolutely incredible,” chief engineer Nikolaos Perakis said during the live broadcast of the launch.

Before the launch, Perakis said the goal was to collect data that could be used to improve future launches.

Many attempts

“Spectrum 1” ended up in the sea just 30 seconds after liftoff in March 2025.

Since then, Isar Aerospace has made several attempts to launch “Spectrum 2”, but the company was forced to abort the launch multiple times for various reasons. On Saturday, it finally succeeded.

“This is a huge success and one of the biggest things to happen in European spaceflight in a very, very long time,” Kjellmar Oksavik, head of the Space Physics Group at the University of Bergen, told VG.

On Saturday, access was restricted both on land and at sea around Andøya Spaceport.

An attempt to launch the rocket on Friday was aborted because of strong winds in the area.

“Historic”

“This is a historic day for Norway as a spacefaring nation. The launch marks a breakthrough for Norwegian and European space activities and is the result of cooperation between Germany’s Isar Aerospace and Norway’s Andøya Space. This strengthens Europe’s access to space,” Minister of Trade and Industry Cecilie Myrseth said in a press release.

Andøya Space has ambitious plans for the coming years.

“This is just the beginning. Andøya Space is developing rapidly, with the goal of carrying out up to 30 satellite launches a year from the spaceport within the next few years,” CEO Ketil Olsen said in a press release.

(©NTB)