German rocket maker Isar Aerospace reached orbit for the first time over the weekend, a milestone for Europe’s commercial space industry. The Munich-based company’s Spectrum rocket lifted off Saturday and deployed its payloads in low Earth orbit — an achievement that came on just its second test flight.
In the wake of the successful mission, Isar is shifting its focus to scaling up production. Chief Commercial Officer Stella Guillen told CNBC on Monday that the space industry is “desperate” for more launch capacity, and that Isar’s pipeline now tops €10 billion ($11.6 billion). The startup did not immediately specify how much of that figure represents signed contracts.
“The demand is so big,” Guillen said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.” “There’s a lot of new … constellations and new projects that have come out, and actually they’re financed.”
With the first successful orbital flight behind it, Isar is concentrating on increasing production and launch frequency, according to Guillen. But she cautioned that Europe’s launch infrastructure will need to grow to support the industry’s ambitions.
Isar’s operations remain tiny compared with those of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, the dominant U.S. player. Still, the company has bold plans.
“Right now, it’s all about scalability, so industrialization is a huge thing for us, and we are ramping up,” Guillen said. “It really is about scaling and being able to launch… not one rocket but hundreds of rockets.”
Privately held Isar has attracted backing from investors including Porsche, venture capital firms Lakestar and HV Capital, and the NATO Innovation Fund. In June, the company raised €270 million in a Series D round to support production scaling and a global launch network.
The company is viewed as one of Europe’s most promising space startups, as the continent tries to build a homegrown commercial launch industry that can rival SpaceX. Reaction to the successful flight was quick from European leaders. Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz called it “the beginning of a new era” in a post on X on Sunday. EU defense and space commissioner Andrius Kubilius said, “Europe’s independent access to space just got a major boost.”
Source: www.cnbc.com — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/07/isar-aerospace-spacex-rival-rocket-launch.html
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