Isar Aerospace Delays Launch of European Space Rocket Spectrum Due to Technical Issue

After a long silence, Isar Aerospace announced that this evening it would attempt to launch the European space rocket Spectrum again. Several attempts had been made in recent months, all postponed due to technical problems. The Onward and Upward mission is the second for this launch vehicle, following the first (Going Full Spectrum) that took off at the end of March last year but ended after about 25 seconds.

When there was about an hour left until the launch from the Norwegian spaceport in Andøya, Isar Aerospace announced a new delay. The press release states that the company "has abandoned today's planned launch attempt. We continue to detect anomalies in the vehicle's fluid systems, and the teams are analyzing new data to identify the root cause."

As it stands, there is no further information, but the Spectrum rocket seems to be in good condition, which could represent positive news for a future attempt. With days getting longer in the Northern Hemisphere and weather conditions expected to stabilize, a new attempt could happen within a few weeks.

The Onward and Upward mission includes several payloads such as the Cubesat CyBEEsat (TU Berlin), TriSat-S (University of Marburg), Platform 6 (EnduroSat), FramSat-1 (NTNU), SpaceTeamSat1 (TU Wien Space Team), and finally the Let It Go experiment from Dcubed.

Previously, Isar Aerospace had announced the possibility of launching its rockets from the spaceport in Nova Scotia (Canada), in addition to an agreement with Astroscale to enable the launch of the ELSA-M satellite, designed for active space debris removal. Trying to increase launch cadence will be critical for the German company. The rise in the number of components in production is a good sign but may not be sufficient if not integrated into a reliable launch schedule.

Before the launch, Josef Aschbacher (Director General of ESA) stated, "With the second Spectrum vehicle on the launch pad in Norway, we are witnessing a clear signal of the growing importance of commercial space transport services in Europe. Isar Aerospace is ready to face a significant challenge, which will be crucial for promoting a resilient and autonomous Europe in space."