Isar Aerospace wins launch contract for European tech demo satellite

WASHINGTON — German launch startup Isar Aerospace won a contract to launch a European technology demonstration satellite on its Spectrum rocket in late 2026.

Isar Aerospace announced Dec. 1 that it will launch the mission, called ΣYNDEO-3, in the fourth quarter of 2026. The satellite is part of the European Union’s In-Orbit Demonstration and In-Orbit Validation (IOD/IOV) Program to flight-test new spacecraft technologies.

For this mission, the spacecraft will carry 10 payloads from five European countries and the European Commission, but the announcement did not disclose details about the payloads. ESA implements to IOD/IOV program on the behalf of the Commission, with funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020 research program.

The spacecraft is being built by Redwire Space’s European business unit, using its Hammerhead satellite bus based on the company’s work on ESA’s PROBA missions. The Hammerhead bus weighs 175 kilograms and can accommodate up to 120 kilograms of payloads.

That comfortably fits into the payload capacity of Spectrum, which is designed to place up to one metric ton into orbit. A spokesperson for Isar said the launch contract is not for a dedicated launch, allowing Isar to fly additional payloads, but declined to disclose financial details of the award.

The announcement of the ΣYNDEO-3 contract came less than two weeks after an American payload aggregator, SEOPS, announced it bought a Spectrum launch in 2028.

“Our launch manifest is filling rapidly, as our global commercial and institutional customers recognize the value of flexible, cost-effective access to space,” Stella Guillen, chief commercial officer of Isar Aerospace, said in a statement about the ΣYNDEO-3 contract.

Isar has performed one orbital launch attempt of Spectrum, in March, which malfunctioned seconds after liftoff. The company said in September that the rocket suffered a loss of attitude control after not properly characterizing bending modes it would experience at liftoff.

At the time, Isar Aerospace said it was working towards a second Spectrum launch “as soon as possible” but did not give a date. The company has not provided updates since then on the schedule for the second launch that, like the first, will take place from Andøya Spaceport in northern Norway.

“We are confident in the capability of Isar Aerospace to ensure a safe and reliable launch, bringing the mission to orbit very soon,” said Patrice Kerhousse, ESA’s IOD/IOV program manager, in a statement about the launch contract.