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Isar Aerospace
German aerospace company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Isar Aerospace is a German aerospace company based in Ottobrunn near Munich. The company was founded in 2018.[2] The company is named after a river that flows through Munich.[3]
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Development
The company is developing Spectrum, a two-stage, liquid-fueled rocket designed to launch 1,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit.[4]
Isar Aerospace intends to manufacture 80% of the rocket themselves, using primarily technology from the tech firms in the area surrounding Munich.[5]
A launch license was issued by the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on 17 March 2025.[6] The launch occurred on 30 March 2025 but fell back to earth after losing control.[7][8]
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Funding
In 2018 Isar Aerospace received first angel investment from early SpaceX leader Bulent Altan and others.[9][10]
In April 2020 Isar Aerospace closed US$17M in Series A funding led by Earlybird and Airbus Ventures to build its space platform.[11][12]
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.[13]
In July 2021, Porsche SE acquired a small stake in Isar Aerospace.[14] 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 European manufacturer of launch vehicles.[15][16]
In March 2023, the startup raised a $165 million Series C from 7-Industries Holding, Bayern Kapital, Lombard Odier and existing investors.[17]
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.[18]
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Partnerships
In April 2021, Isar Aerospace, signed a contract with Andøya Space to lease the launch pad. The 20-year deal will allow the company to launch their Spectrum launch vehicle.[19]
In January 2022 the company won European Commission's European Innovation Council (EIC) Horizon Prize "Low-Cost Space Launch", which included a grant of 10 million Euros.[20]
In July 2022, Isar Aerospace announced that the French space agency, the CNES, selected the startup to be the first private company launch from the Guiana Space Centre, in French Guiana. The company will use the launchpad formerly used by Diamant.[21]
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.[22][23][24]
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. [25][26][27][28]
See also
References
External links
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