Isar Aerospace Reaches Orbit on Second Attempt With 3D-Printed Engines

Europe's Private Space Milestone

Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket lifted off from Andoya Spaceport in Norway on September 5 at 22:12 CEST. Seven minutes later, it reached an elliptical orbit. Roughly two hours after liftoff, all six payloads were confirmed deployed.

That makes Spectrum the first privately funded orbital launcher to reach orbit from continental European soil. Europe already launches from French Guiana via Ariane 6 and Vega-C, but those are government-backed programs. Isar Aerospace built Spectrum in Germany and flew it from Norway.

The Engines That Got It There

Spectrum's first stage carries nine Aquila engines. A vacuum-tuned variant of the same engine powers the second stage. Both run on propane and liquid oxygen.

The critical part: Aquila's thrust chamber assembly. Isar Aerospace worked with EOS and its large-format subsidiary AMCM to build a bespoke metal additive manufacturing setup. The AMCM M 450 and EOS M 290 systems produce the thrust chamber, which EOS describes as the heaviest, longest lead time, and most expensive component to manufacture by conventional means.

Christian Wenzl, Isar Aerospace's head of manufacturing, said the company chose the AMCM M 450 specifically for the customization options it delivered, which matched the build volume the engine design required.

A Rocky First Flight

This was Spectrum's second flight. The first attempt in March 2025 ended in the sea off Andoya after about 30 seconds. The flight control system overcorrected and shut down the first-stage engines. Eighteen months and several scrubbed launches later, flight two ran its full sequence: max dynamic pressure, stage separation, second-stage engine ignition, fairing separation, orbit insertion, circularization, and payload deployment.

Nikolaos Perakis, Spectrum's chief engineer, described the flight as "making history, making history for Spectrum, making history for Isar, making history for Europe."

Why Additive Manufacturing Was Essential

The Aquila thrust chambers feature complex internal geometries that are extremely difficult to machine or cast. Traditional manufacturing would have pushed timelines and costs beyond what a private company of Isar's size could sustain.

Isar Aerospace is not relying on 3D printing alone. The company produces Spectrum's primary structure as a single carbon composite part through an automated process. It also developed its own non-toxic propellants and built pyrotechnic-free separation systems for the stages and payload fairing. The additive manufacturing piece fits into a broader strategy of owning the full supply chain.

What Comes Next

The mission, named Onward and Upward, carried six payloads: five cubesats and one non-separable experiment under the European Space Agency's Boost! program. Isar Aerospace says its production line near Munich will scale to more than 30 vehicles per year, targeting the small-to-medium satellite market.

None of that is guaranteed yet. The company still needs to demonstrate reliable payload deployment across multiple flights, not just one. But after a first flight that lasted 30 seconds, reaching orbit and deploying six payloads on the second attempt is a clear signal that the approach works.