Isar Aerospace reaches orbit and deploys payloads on second flight(isaraerospace.com)
607 points by mpweiher 4 days ago | 194 comments
tl;dr: Isar Aerospace successfully reached orbit and deployed payloads on its second flight of the Spectrum rocket, launching from Andøya, Norway, becoming the first commercial European company to do so. The mission carried payloads selected via the German Space Agency's Microlauncher Competition. The Munich-based company has Spectrum vehicles 3-7 in production and is building a second launch site in Nova Scotia, with plans to eventually manufacture up to 40 vehicles per year.
HN Discussion:
  • Celebrates the achievement as major progress for European and global space access
  • Highlights SpaceX/American influence and investment behind Isar's success
  • Criticizes Isar's 'sovereign access' framing for ignoring Arianespace
  • ~Questions Europe's cautious approach compared to SpaceX's iterative trial-and-error method
  • Predicts Germany's sovereign launch capability will undermine ESA