Isar Aerospace is a German aerospace company based in

Ottobrunn Ottobrunn () is a suburban municipality southeast of Munich, Bavaria, Germany, founded in 1955. Ottobrunn consists of mainly semi-detached and detached houses, as well as extensive garden areas. Ottobrunn is also the German Headquarters of Airbus ...

near

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. The company was founded in 2018. The company is named after a river that flows through Munich.

Development

The company is developing

Spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...

, a two-stage, liquid-fueled

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

designed to launch 1,000 kilograms to low

Earth orbit Earth orbit may refer to: * Earth's orbit, the orbit of the Earth around the Sun * Low Earth orbit, an orbit around the Earth * Geocentric orbit A geocentric orbit, Earth-centered orbit, or Earth orbit involves any object orbiting Earth, such a ...

. Isar Aerospace intends to manufacture 80% of the rocket themselves, using primarily technology from the tech firms in the area surrounding Munich. A launch license was issued by the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on 17 March 2025. The launch occurred on 30 March 2025 but fell back to earth after losing control.

Funding

In 2018 Isar Aerospace received first angel investment from early

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...

leader Bulent Altan and others. In April 2020 Isar Aerospace closed US$17M in Series A funding led by Earlybird and

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

Ventures to build its space platform. In December 2020, the company got an additional €75 million ($91 million) in funding led by Lakestar and with participation of HV Capital and Ann-Kristin and Paul Achleitner as well as existing investors. In July 2021, Porsche SE acquired a small stake in Isar Aerospace. The financial terms of the deal are not disclosed, but it is known that in the new round of financing, the startup raised about $75 million. Porsche explained of its investment that Isar Aerospace had great potential to become a leading

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an manufacturer of launch vehicles. In March 2023, the startup raised a $165 million Series C from 7-Industries Holding, Bayern Kapital, Lombard Odier and existing investors. An additional $70 million was raised in 2024 from the NATO Innovation Fund and others as an extension of an earlier Series C round. The total funding is now greater than 400 million euros.

Partnerships

In April 2021, Isar Aerospace, signed a contract with

Andøya Space Andøya Space, also named Andøya Space Center and formerly Andøya Rocket Range, is a rocket launch site, rocket range, and spaceport on Andøya island (the northernmost in the Vesterålen archipelago) in Andøy Municipality in Nordland coun ...

to lease the launch pad. The 20-year deal will allow the company to launch their Spectrum launch vehicle. In January 2022 the company won

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

's European Innovation Council (EIC) Horizon Prize "Low-Cost Space Launch", which included a grant of 10 million Euros. In July 2022, Isar Aerospace announced that the French space agency, the

CNES CNES () is the French national space agency. Headquartered in central Paris, the agency is overseen by the ministries of the Armed Forces, Economy and Finance and Higher Education, Research and Innovation. It operates from the Toulouse Spac ...

, selected the startup to be the first private company launch from the

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approxim ...

, in

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

. The company will use the launchpad formerly used by

Diamant The Diamant rocket (French for "diamond") was the first exclusively French expendable launch system and at the same time the first satellite launcher not built by either the United States or USSR. As such, it has been referred to as being a key ...

. In November 2022, Isar Aerospace and Exotrail signed a multiple launch services agreement. The launch vehicle Spectrum will launch Exotrail's spacevan vehicle on several firm launches to low Earth Orbit (LEO) and geostationary transfer orbits (GTO) form Isar Aerospace's launch sites.

Test launches

On 30 March 2025, the inaugural launch of Isar's first space launcher, the Spectrum rocket, took place under the mission name "Going Full Spectrum". Launching from Andoya Space Port, liftoff was successful, however the rocket experienced anomalies 30 seconds into flight and was terminated causing it to fall back to the earth and explode upon impact.

References

External links