Isar Aerospace

PrivateFounded 2018🇩🇪Ottobrunn, GermanyCEO Daniel Metzler

Isar Aerospace is a Munich-area launch company that on September 5, 2026 became the first privately developed European rocket maker to reach orbit, and the first to do so from continental Europe.

Latest update Sep 23, 2026

Overview

Founded in 2018 by Daniel Metzler, Josef Fleischmann and Markus Brandl out of the Technical University of Munich's WARR student rocketry team, it builds Spectrum, a 28-meter, two-stage propane/liquid-oxygen small-lift vehicle with nine Aquila first-stage engines and a restartable vacuum Aquila, sized for 1,000 kg to low Earth orbit or 700 kg to sun-synchronous orbit. Mission Onward and Upward lifted off from the company's dedicated pad at Andoya Spaceport, Norway, at 22:12 CEST on its second flight, circularized into a roughly 500 km sun-synchronous orbit, and deployed five customer CubeSats; Isar said on September 9 that most of those satellites had already established contact. The debut flight, Going Full Spectrum on March 30, 2025, lost attitude control about 30 seconds after liftoff after a vent valve opened unexpectedly. A June 9, 2026 Series D of EUR 270 million took cumulative funding to roughly EUR 870 million. ESA signed a EUR 197.8 million European Launcher Challenge contract on August 27, 2026, and the September 5 flight made Isar the first ELC challenger to clear the orbital-launch milestone. Vehicles three through seven are in production at a new 40,000 square meter Parsdorf/Vaterstetten factory designed for up to 40 Spectrum vehicles a year. Chief commercial officer Stella Guillen said on September 15 that 2028 launch capacity is fully contracted and more than double the 2027 plan of at least four flights, that a third flight would follow soon, and that Isar signed five more dedicated Spectrum missions with SEOPS for 2028-2030, taking that relationship to six launches. Defense-related inbound demand has flipped from a mostly civil book a year earlier to about 60% by June 2026 and as high as 70% in CEO comments after the orbital flight. A 10-year, $112.5 million dedicated-pad deal with Maritime Launch Services at Spaceport Nova Scotia, whose statement of work closed on September 14, 2026, targets first Canadian Spectrum flights in 2028. On September 21, 2026 co-founder Josef Fleischmann handed over COO/CTO duties to found Bavaria Instruments; Can Araz, formerly VP Spectrum, became CTO, with Daniel Metzler remaining CEO.

isaraerospace.comUpdated Sep 23, 2026

What's next5

All milestones

Late 2026
Fly Spectrum's third mission
Vehicles 3-7 are already in production. Reuters reported on September 15 that Isar intends to complete its third flight soon after the September 5 orbital debut. FAZ, citing Metzler after the launch, said the third vehicle was in final preparation and that flights four through seven should go in 2027, all from Norway.
reuters.com
2026
Launch Planet's German-built Pelican satellite
TargetLate 2026 to mid-2027
On July 2, 2026 Planet Labs Germany booked a next-generation Pelican Earth-observation satellite, to be assembled at Planet's new Berlin factory, on Spectrum from Andoya, billed as the first German-built satellite on a German-built rocket. The agreement aimed for a first launch within 12 months, with the vehicle 'currently scheduled as early as late 2026.' That late-2026 window is now tight against the just-completed qualification flight.
isaraerospace.com
2027
Run at least four Spectrum flights in 2027
CCO Stella Guillen said on September 15 that Isar is scheduling at least four flights next year, the first year that is supposed to look like a commercial cadence rather than a test program. 2028 capacity is already fully contracted and described as a little more than double that 2027 plan. Meeting the demand the company says it is seeing would take nearly 200 Spectrum-class vehicles in 2028, a figure Guillen gave without a matching backlog number.
reuters.com
2027-2028
Launch Astroscale's ADRAS-J2 debris-removal spacecraft
Astroscale Japan selected Spectrum on September 1, 2026 to launch ADRAS-J2, the JAXA Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration follow-on that will try to capture and deorbit a roughly 3-ton H-IIA upper stage. Target window is 2027-2028 from Andoya. It is Isar's second Astroscale-group booking after ELSA-M (Astroscale FY2028 or later). Spectrum's September 5 orbital debut is the flight heritage Astroscale had said it wanted first.
isaraerospace.com
2028
First Spectrum launch from Spaceport Nova Scotia
The 10-year, $112.5 million dedicated-pad deal with Maritime Launch Services closed its statement of work on September 14, 2026, after a two-week extension from the original September 1 deadline. Pad handover is still due November 1, 2026, with additional spaceport infrastructure by December 31, 2027 and first orbital Spectrum flights targeted for 2028. SEOPS' five additional missions may use both Andoya and Nova Scotia.
newswire.ca

Latest news1

All news

Sep 12026
Astroscale picks Isar Aerospace to launch ADRAS-J2
Astroscale Japan said on September 1, 2026 it selected Isar Aerospace to launch its ADRAS-J2 debris-removal spacecraft on a Spectrum rocket from Andoya Spaceport in Norway, targeting a 2027-2028 window. ADRAS-J2, contracted under JAXA's Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration program, will attempt to capture and deorbit the same derelict rocket upper stage that Astroscale's ADRAS-J spacecraft inspected up close before completing its mission earlier this year. It is Isar's second Astroscale launch contract, after being picked in March 2026 to fly the ELSA-M demonstration mission.
Isar Aerospace AstroSpace.it + Astroscale

Products1

Active
Spectrum
Isar's two-stage orbital small-lift rocket: 28 meters tall, 2 meters in diameter, carbon-composite primary structure, propane and liquid oxygen, nine 75 kN Aquila gas-generator engines on the first stage and one 95 kN vacuum Aquila on the second stage with multi-ignition so it can circularize and deploy without a kick stage. Payload is 1,000 kg to low Earth orbit or 700 kg to sun-synchronous orbit. It is designed, built, and tested almost entirely in-house. Flight 1 failed; Flight 2 reached orbit from Andoya on September 5, 2026.
Height / Diameter
28 m / 2 m
Payload
1,000 kg to LEO

Key metrics

Employees: 400+; (company, Sept 15 2026); FAZ reported 500 after the orbital debut, targeting 600 by year-end
Est. annual revenue: No public 2025 or 2026 revenue print; Launch service is only now converting from qualification to operations after the September 5, 2026 orbital debut. CCO Stella Guillen said on September 15 that 2028 launch capacity is fully contracted. Aviation Week reported in January 2026, before Spectrum had reached orbit, that Isar claimed a more than $10B business pipeline and several hundred million dollars of booked launch contracts; those figures have not been independently audited. Current revenue is still a mix of institutional contracts (ESA Boost!, ELC milestone funding, DLR microlauncher) and customer deposits rather than a disclosed commercial launch P&L.
Total Raised: ~EUR 870M after the June 2026 Series D; (The Next Web); company homepage still lists EUR 500+ million, which predates the round
Valuation: About EUR 2B targeted in Series D talks; (Bloomberg, March 2026); close terms not disclosed
Orbital Record: 1 for 2: Flight 1 failed at T+30s on March 30, 2025; Flight 2 reached SSO and deployed five CubeSats on September 5, 2026
Spectrum Payload: 1,000 kg to LEO; 700 kg to SSO
2027-2028 Cadence: At least 4 flights scheduled for 2027; 2028 capacity fully contracted and more than double 2027, per CCO Stella Guillen on Sept 15, 2026
Factory Capacity: 40,000 m2 Parsdorf/Vaterstetten plant designed for up to 40 Spectrum vehicles a year; vehicles 3-7 already in production. FAZ reported Metzler is aiming to hit that 40-a-year rate from 2030
ESA ELC Contract: EUR 197.8M European Launcher Challenge award signed Aug 27, 2026; first ELC challenger to reach orbit
Defense Demand: About 60% of inbound requests by June 2026, up from mostly civil a year earlier; CEO later put military inquiries as high as 70% after the orbital flight

Operations & revenue

Operating status

Operational

One successful orbital flight, from Isar's dedicated pad at Andoya Spaceport, Norway, the first orbital spaceport on the European mainland. Vehicles 3-7 are in production; Reuters reported a third flight would follow soon after September 5, with at least four missions scheduled for 2027. The company is moving into a combined headquarters and factory in Parsdorf/Vaterstetten designed for about 40 vehicles a year. A 10-year dedicated complex at Spaceport Nova Scotia, statement of work closed September 14, 2026, targets first Spectrum flights in 2028. The launch page still lists Kourou, where CNES selected Isar for the former Diamant pad in 2022; start of operations there has slipped to 2027 at the earliest. Engine testing is run from Kiruna/Esrange, Sweden. Legal form is Isar Aerospace SE, with subsidiaries in Sweden, France, and Canada. Company boilerplate still says 400+ people across 5 countries; FAZ cited 500 after the orbital flight, targeting 600 by year-end 2026.

Revenue streams

Dedicated small-satellite launch
The intended core business: dedicated Spectrum flights that let a customer pick the orbit and the date rather than wait for a rideshare slot. Offerings are Dedicated, Lead, and Rideshare. Commercial cadence is still ramping after the September 2026 qualification flight; 2028 dedicated capacity is already described as fully contracted.
Institutional and ESA launch services
ESA Boost! funded the first two Spectrum flights. The August 2026 European Launcher Challenge contract is worth EUR 197.8 million as milestones are met. DLR's microlauncher competition selected the Flight 2 payloads. NOSA has booked two Arctic Ocean Surveillance satellites through 2028. These are the first paying institutional customers converting Europe's launcher-policy shift into contracts.
Defense and sovereign launch
Inbound demand flipped from mostly civil to about 60% defense-related by June 2026. Isar is named preferred launch partner for the Kongsberg/Hensoldt/Helsing European ISR constellation, partnered with TKMS on the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project as a sovereign-launch add-on, and hosted German defence minister Boris Pistorius at Ottobrunn in July 2026. The product is still Spectrum; the customer mix is increasingly military reconnaissance and communications.
Multi-launch rideshare (SEOPS and similar)
SEOPS has now booked six Spectrum missions, including five dedicated launches in 2028-2030 from Andoya and Nova Scotia under its Waymaker rideshare program. Earlier commercial agreements include Exotrail, EnduroSat, Airbus Defence and Space, and Spaceflight Inc. These are capacity reservations rather than a disclosed dollar backlog.

Track record

How past announced dates turned out.

1/1announced date hit on time

1 Hit
0 Slipped
0 Missed

Hit
Reach orbit on Spectrum's qualification flight
Target January 2026 · Resolved Sep 5, 2026
Mission Onward and Upward was first targeted no earlier than January 21, 2026, then slipped through a pressurization-valve scrub, a boat in the exclusion zone, a COPV leak, off-nominal fluid-system behavior in June, and a wind delay on September 4. Spectrum reached a sun-synchronous orbit from Andoya at 22:12 CEST on September 5, 2026, circularized, and deployed five CubeSats. Isar said on September 9 that most of the satellites had established contact. It is recorded as a hit against the original early-2026 target, after multiple slips.
Original target Outcome

Timeline13

2026
1. Co-founder Fleischmann exits operations; Can Araz named CTO
  On September 21, 2026 co-founder Josef Fleischmann hands over his COO/CTO operational role to found Bavaria Instruments, an in-orbit computing startup. Can Araz, with the company since founding and most recently VP Spectrum, becomes CTO. Patrick Adcock, VP Global Operations, leads production scaling. Daniel Metzler remains CEO.
2. SEOPS books five more launches; 2028 capacity sold out
  On September 15, 2026 Isar signs five additional dedicated Spectrum launches with US rideshare operator SEOPS for 2028-2030 from Andoya and Spaceport Nova Scotia, taking the SEOPS relationship to six missions and bringing the 2028 manifest close to full. Reuters reported the same day that CCO Stella Guillen said 2028 capacity is fully contracted and 'a little bit more' than double the 2027 plan of at least four flights, that a third flight would follow soon after September 5, and that meeting current demand would take nearly 200 Spectrum-class vehicles in 2028. The Nova Scotia statement of work had been finalized on September 14.
3. Onward and Upward reaches orbit on Spectrum's second flight
  At 22:12 CEST on September 5, 2026, Spectrum lifts off from Andoya on Mission Onward and Upward, the first successful orbital launch of a privately developed European rocket and the first orbital launch from continental Europe. The two-stage vehicle reaches a sun-synchronous orbit near 500 km, completes a circularization burn, and deploys five CubeSats (CyBEEsat, TriSat-S, Platform 6, FramSat-1, SpaceTeamSat1) plus Dcubed's non-separable Let It Go experiment. Isar said on September 9 that most of the satellites had established contact and begun operations, and that the first stage completed a controlled descent into a designated Norwegian Sea corridor. ESA called it the first European Launcher Challenge orbital milestone.
4. ESA European Launcher Challenge contract, then ADRAS-J2
  On August 27, 2026 ESA signs the first European Launcher Challenge contracts; Isar's award is EUR 197.8 million, funded mainly by Germany with Austria and Norway, the largest of the three initial awards. On September 1 Astroscale Japan books ADRAS-J2, JAXA's active debris-removal follow-on, on Spectrum from Andoya in a 2027-2028 window, Isar's second Astroscale-group contract after ELSA-M in March.
5. Planet books a German-built Pelican; MLS signs a $112.5M pad deal
  On July 2 Planet Labs Germany books a Pelican Earth-observation satellite, to be assembled in Berlin, on Spectrum as early as late 2026, billed as the first German-built satellite on a German-built rocket. On July 7 Isar and Maritime Launch Services sign a 10-year facilities-usage agreement for a dedicated Spectrum complex at Spaceport Nova Scotia, $3.75 million a quarter ($112.5 million over the base term) with a 30-month fee-waiver window after year one and first flights targeted for 2028. German defence minister Boris Pistorius tours Ottobrunn on July 23.
6. EUR 270M Series D to scale production and a Canadian pad
  On June 9, 2026 Isar closes a EUR 270 million Series D with new investors Island Green Capital and Molten Ventures alongside HV Capital, Lakestar, UVC Partners and KfW Capital. The Next Web puts cumulative funding at roughly EUR 870 million. The money funds the Parsdorf factory, a planned second pad at Spaceport Nova Scotia, and serial Spectrum production. Defense-related inbound demand has risen to about 60% of requests. Bloomberg had reported in March that the round was being discussed at about a EUR 2 billion valuation; close terms were not disclosed.
2025
1. Going Full Spectrum fails 30 seconds after liftoff
  Spectrum's debut, Mission Going Full Spectrum, lifts off from Andoya at 12:30 CEST on March 30, 2025, the first orbital launch attempt from continental Europe by a commercial company. About 30 seconds later a vent valve opens unexpectedly, the vehicle loses attitude control at the start of its roll maneuver, and the flight-termination system dumps it into the sea. The pad survives. An investigation completed within two months, reviewed with the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority, drives software and environmental-margin changes for flight 2.
2024
1. NATO Innovation Fund joins; Parsdorf factory contracted
  In June 2024 the NATO Innovation Fund leads a $70 million Series C extension, taking disclosed private capital above EUR 400 million. In May the company signs with VGP to build a 40,000 square meter headquarters and factory in Parsdorf/Vaterstetten, designed for serial Spectrum production. ESA Boost! adds a EUR 15 million contract in November.

Funding

$730Mdisclosed across 6 rounds with a stated amount

Cumulative disclosed raise · dated rounds

RoundAmountInvestors

Series A
Dec 2019
$17M
Earlybird and Airbus Ventures (leads); former SpaceX executive Bulent Altan among early backers
Series B
Dec 2020
$91M
Lakestar (lead), HV Capital, Ann-Kristin and Paul Achleitner, existing investors
Growth round (Porsche SE)
Jul 2021
~$75M
Porsche SE takes a stake; terms otherwise undisclosed
EIC Horizon Prize (grant)
Jan 2022
EUR 10M
European Commission EIC Horizon Prize for Low-Cost Space Launch
Series C
Mar 2023
$165M
7-Industries Holding, Bayern Kapital, Lombard Odier, and existing investors
Series C extension
Jun 2024
$70M
NATO Innovation Fund and others; disclosed private capital exceeds EUR 400M
ESA Boost! (grant)
Nov 2024
EUR 15M
European Space Agency Boost! programme, supporting Spectrum flights 1 and 2 and next-generation engines
Series D
Jun 2026
EUR 270M (~$312M)
Island Green Capital and Molten Ventures (new); HV Capital, Lakestar, UVC Partners with KfW Capital, and other existing investors. The Next Web put cumulative funding at roughly EUR 870M. Bloomberg had reported a targeted EUR 2B valuation while the round was in talks.