Latest news with #DanielMetzler
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Watch a private German rocket explode during 1st orbital launch attempt from European soil (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A dramatic drone video shows Isar Aerospace's first orbital launch attempt, which ended with a fiery crash into the frigid sea about 30 seconds after liftoff. The Germany company's first Spectrum rocket lifted off Sunday morning (March 30) from Andøya Spaceport in northern Norway on the first-ever orbital launch attempt from European soil. Spectrum cleared the tower but suffered an anomaly shortly thereafter. The rocket flipped over and slammed into the ocean near the pad, sending an orange-tinted cloud high into a clear Arctic sky, as the video shows. The launch pad and surrounding infrastructure appear to have escaped damage, according to Isar Aerospace. The company accentuated the positive about Spectrum's debut, saying the 95-foot-tall (28 meters) rocket performed quite well overall. "Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success," Isar Aerospace CEO and Co-founder Daniel Metzler said in an emailed statement. "We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our flight termination system." RELATED STORIES: — Europe's 1st continental spaceport is open for business in Norway — A spaceport startup launched the 1st rocket from a floating launch pad in US waters — Nova Scotia spaceport project aims to launch clean-tech rockets European space officials were similarly sanguine. "A test flight is exactly that: a test to gather data, learn and improve," European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher said in a different statement on Sunday. "Everything Isar Aerospace achieved today is remarkable, and they will have lots of data to analyze," he added. "I applaud the teams for getting this far, and I am confident that we will see the next Spectrum on the launch pad ready for test flight 2 liftoff soon."
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Test Rocket Explodes Seconds After Europe's First Orbital Rocket Launch
It's been a big year for rocket explosions so far in 2025, with two craft from SpaceX experiencing "rapid unscheduled disassembly" above the Caribbean. Now, the inaugural test flight for a space startup ended in disaster when the first orbital rocket launch on mainland Europe exploded seconds after takeoff. A test launch from space startup Isar Aerospace was due to become the first orbital rocket launch in mainland Europe with its test flight on Sunday March 30. The startup launched its Uncrewed Spectrum rocket from a facility in Norway, but the craft crashed back to Earth and exploded just seconds after it launched, reports the Guardian. The rocket was billed as a key milestone for European space companies as it could have paved the way for satellite launches and similar programs on the continent. The launch clearly didn't go without a hitch, though, and the craft started wobbling shortly after takeoff. It then spun in the air and nosedived into the sea below, where it exploded. Read more: All Aboard South Korea's New $100 Billion Baby-Making Trains The Uncrewed Spectrum rocket launched without a satellite onboard. Instead, the launch was all about gathering data for future launches, explained Isar Aerospace in a statement. As such, it claims that in spite of the explosion, the test flight was a success: "Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success. We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our Flight Termination System. We demonstrated that we can not only design and build but also launch rockets. I could not be prouder of our entire team for working so hard over the past seven years to reach this important milestone," said Daniel Metzler, CEO and co-founder of Isar Aerospace. The European Space Agency also said the launch was a "success to get off the pad," despite it then exploding into a few thousand pieces when it crash landed into the sea. But hey, what's a few explosions among friends? As a result of the fiery end to the launch, Isar Aerospace says it now has plenty of data to dig through in order to find out what went wrong. Once it's been able to find the "root cause and iterate the systems" for its launch vehicle, Isar will be able to start planning future launches. With this in mind, the company is already working on the construction of its second and third launch vehicles. These craft will continue testing the company's launch systems, which will one day be capable of carrying as much as 2,200lbs worth of stuff into orbit above the Earth. When the company eventually reaches that milestone, it'll join dozens of other space startups that are slowly filling Earth's orbit with all kind of satellites, probes, telescopes and other space junk. It's estimated that there are more than 11,000 satellites orbiting above Earth today, and that number is only going to rise. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Local Norway
31-03-2025
- Science
- Local Norway
European orbital rocket crashes in Norway shortly after launch
The Spectrum rocket, developed by German start-up Isar Aerospace, started smoking from its sides, then crashed back to Earth with a powerful explosion just after launching from Norway's Andøya Spaceport in the Arctic, in live video broadcast on YouTube. Isar Aerospace, which had said it did not expect to reach orbit with the launch, said the two-stage rocket fell into the sea, adding that "the launch pad seems to be intact". Andøya Space, the Norwegian public firm that operates the spaceport, said "crisis response" measures had been activated following the "incident". Regional police said no injuries or damage beyond the rocket itself had been reported. Orbital rockets are designed to place loads such as satellites into or beyond Earth's orbit. 'Great success' Ahead of the launch, which had been repeatedly postponed due to weather conditions, Isar Aerospace had downplayed expectations, saying the goal was not to reach orbit in its first attempt. "Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success. We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our Flight Termination System," said Daniel Metzler, the firm's co-founder and chief executive. In an online press conference following the launch, Metzler insisted Isar was "very well positioned" to take advantage of the rocket-to-satellite market, adding that the company would "make the adjustments that are necessary" to the spacecraft. Two more Spectrum rockets are already in development, the company said. The 28-metre (92-foot) tall, two-metre diameter rocket has a one-tonne carrying capacity, but was unloaded for the test flight. Spectrum's blast-off was the first of an orbital launch vehicle from the European continent, excluding Russia, and Europe's first financed almost exclusively by the private sector. Advertisement "Today is an important day for German and European space travel," said German Economy Minister Robert Habeck. "Isar Aerospace can and will make a decisive contribution to securing Europe's independent access to space." A first European orbital launch attempt was made in 2023 by billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit. It attempted to use a Boeing 747 to launch a rocket into orbit from southwest England, but failed, and the company folded. 'New Space' Europe has had no access to Russian space stations or launchers since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which sent diplomatic relations on a downward spiral. Europe's space industry has also seen delays in the development of the Ariane 6 rocket and the suspension of the Vega-C satellite launcher after an accident. It wasn't until March 6, when the first commercial flight of an Ariane 6 rocket took off from French Guyana, that Europe was able to regain launch independence after several months without its own access to space for heavy payloads. While the US already has giants such as Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos-founded Blue Origin, in Europe, commercial space activities driven by private companies -- dubbed "New Space" -- are still in their infancy. Advertisement Isar Aerospace was founded in 2018 in Munich. Europe is also home to Germany's HyImpulse and Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), French groups Latitude and MaiaSpace and Spain's PLD Space, all racing to establish themselves as key players in the sector. Sunday's launch generated "tonnes of data that the teams can now evaluate and learn from", an Isar Aerospace commentator said on the YouTube live stream. In parallel with the development of new rockets, a number of spaceport projects have emerged across Europe, from the Portuguese Azores to the British Shetland Islands, Norway's Andoya and Esrange in neighbouring Sweden, many vying to be the first to launch.
BBC News
31-03-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Rocket crashes back to Earth moments after launch
A test rocket that was aimed at kickstarting European satellite launches has come back to Earth with a bit of a Spectrum rocket, which had no-one on board, took off from Norway on Sunday but came crashing back down to Earth moments after it took flight. The rocket marked the first time a rocket capable of reaching orbit was launched from continental Europe excluding only being airborne for a few seconds, the engineers were happy with the important data they gained. After ignition of its first stage, Spectrum successfully lifted off. However, its first test flight lasted only approximately 30 seconds. The rocket was developed by German start-up Isar Aerospace who had warned the initial launch could end quickly. "Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success," the firm's co-founder Daniel Metzler collected from the test flight will be used to hopefully launch satellites from Europe in future.
Express Tribune
31-03-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
European orbital rocket crashes after launch
The first orbital rocket launched from continental Europe crashed seconds after blast-off Sunday, in a closely watched test for the continent's bid to build a new space economy. The Spectrum rocket, developed by German start-up Isar Aerospace, started smoking from its sides, then crashed back to Earth with a powerful explosion just after launching from Norway's Andoya Spaceport in the Arctic, in live video broadcast on YouTube. Isar Aerospace, which had said it did not expect to reach orbit with the launch, said the two-stage rocket fell into the sea, adding that "the launch pad seems to be intact". Andoya Space, the Norwegian public firm that operates the spaceport, said "crisis response" measures had been activated following the "incident". Regional police said no injuries or damage beyond the rocket itself had been reported. Orbital rockets are designed to place loads such as satellites into or beyond Earth's orbit. Ahead of the launch, which had been repeatedly postponed due to weather conditions, Isar Aerospace had downplayed expectations, saying the goal was not to reach orbit in its first attempt. "Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success. We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our Flight Termination System," said Daniel Metzler, the firm's co-founder and chief executive. Two more Spectrum rockets are already in development, the company said. The 28-metre (92-foot) tall, two-metre diameter rocket has a one-tonne carrying capacity, but was unloaded for the test flight. Spectrum's blast-off was the first of an orbital launch vehicle from the European continent, excluding Russia, and Europe's first financed almost exclusively by the private sector. "Today is an important day for German and European space travel," said German Economy Minister Robert Habeck. "Isar Aerospace can and will make a decisive contribution to securing Europe's independent access to space." A first European orbital launch attempt was made in 2023 by billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit. It attempted to use a Boeing 747 to launch a rocket into orbit from southwest England, but failed, and the company folded. Europe has had no access to Russian space stations or launchers since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which sent diplomatic relations on a downward spiral. Europe's space industry has also seen delays in the development of the Ariane 6 rocket and the suspension of the Vega-C satellite launcher after an accident. It wasn't until March 6, when the first commercial flight of an Ariane 6 rocket took off from French Guyana, that Europe was able to regain launch independence after several months without its own access to space. While the US already has giants such as Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos-founded Blue Origin, in Europe, commercial space activities driven by private companies -- dubbed "New Space" -- are still in their infancy. Isar Aerospace was founded in 2018 in Munich. Europe is also home to Germany's HyImpulse and Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), French groups Latitude and MaiaSpace and Spain's PLD Space, all racing to establish themselves as key players in the sector.
