European launch service company Isar Aerospace and US-based Spaceflight Inc., the global launch services provider, have signed a multi-launch services agreement.
Under the agreement, Spaceflight secured one dedicated launch in 2026 to a sun-synchronous orbit taking off from Andøya, Norway and an option to add an additional dedicated launch to occur in 2025.
Commenting on the deal, Curt Blake, CEO and president of Spaceflight, said: “We’ve seen an increased demand for flexible and affordable launch options around the globe, but especially for our European-based customers. We’re very much looking forward to working with Isar Aerospace to help us meet that growing need. They have been successful in securing launch infrastructure and have made significant technological developments over recent years, and we welcome them into our launch vehicle portfolio.”
Spaceflight has more than a decade of launch and in-space transportation services expertise, successfully delivering more than 450 spacecraft across 55 launches, including both rideshare and dedicated launches. The company provides a host of launch and mission management services, from security capacity to providing comprehensive integration and logistics services. In addition, the company executed the launch of five next-gen Sherpa orbital transfer vehicles which successfully carried more than 50 customer payloads, including CubeSats, microsats and hosted payloads, to their desired orbits.
The agreement underlines the trust and growing global interest in Isar Aerospace’s flexible launch service solutions as the company expands into the US market. Spectrum, Isar Aerospace’s completely in-house developed two-stage launch vehicle, can deliver up to 1,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit (LEO) and up to 700 kilograms to sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). The vehicle design and testing are progressing well, and the company is working towards the first test flight of Spectrum, which is planned for 2023. Since its founding in 2018, Isar Aerospace has raised private funding of more than $180m and attracted both international commercial and institutional customers.
Stella Guillen, Chief Commercial Officer at Isar Aerospace, added: “We thank Spaceflight for the confidence it has placed in Isar Aerospace’s team and are excited to welcome Spaceflight customers on board Spectrum’s flights! Adding the first US-based company to our international client roster, we clearly see the growing market need for flexible space access and international alternatives. Across the globe, a growing number of vital technologies are dependent on easy access to space and private launch services like Isar Aerospace offer the solution.”
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