The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
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Artist's impression of Spectrum launcher on its launch pad at Andøya Spaceport
Isar Aerospace’s two-stage launch vehicle Spectrum will be around 28 m tall, 2 m in diameter and its ten engines will launch payloads of up to 1000 kg to low Earth orbit.
Isar Aerospace has completed its latest development test campaig for its Aquila engines firing for 260 seconds over multiple times – more than the engine needs to fire for a flight. The test exceeded expectations by firing one of the engines six separate times without refurbishment. The company is now carrying out acceptance testing of the engines for Spectrum’s first flight and is working on last milestones such as stage testing.
Andøya Spaceport, located at Nordmela on the Norwegian island of Andøya, has finished construction of the first step of building: initial operation capability. The first launch from the new spaceport will be Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum for which the launch pad, payload integration facilities and launch- and mission control have been finalised.