Isar Aerospace Achieves First Privately Funded European Orbital Launch with Spectrum Rocket

German startup Isar Aerospace successfully launched its Spectrum rocket from Andøya Spaceport in Norway, deploying five CubeSats into low Earth orbit. This marks the first time a privately funded European orbital rocket has reached orbit and the first successful orbital launch from continental Europe. The flight completed stage separation, upper-stage ignition, fairing deployment, and two burns before confirming payload release.