- 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.
IN FULL
Space startup makes history with first ever rocket launch from European soil
