Isar Aerospace’s third Spectrum flight has a reserved launch window beginning November 26, 2026, according to European Spaceflight’s November 10 report. The report cites an Avinor aviation notice issued on October 28 that covers operations through February 17, 2027, with daily windows from 20:00 to 21:30 UTC. November 26 is the opening of that reserved period.
The planned mission follows Spectrum’s successful September 5 orbital flight from Andøya Spaceport in Norway. Isar Aerospace has moved into production of successive vehicles, with the third rocket reported in final assembly after the September mission. Acceptance testing and shipment to the launch site follow assembly.
A Second Flight That Delivered Payloads
The German Aerospace Center, DLR, reported that Spectrum’s first successful orbital flight carried five small satellites and one experiment. The payloads represented organizations in Germany, Norway, Austria, Slovenia, and Bulgaria. Their deployment established an orbital delivery milestone for the German-developed commercial launcher.
That mission followed Spectrum’s first test flight in March 2025, which ended less than a minute after liftoff. The September flight carried the vehicle through orbital delivery. DLR describes the program within Germany’s support for privately developed launch systems, connecting national space activities with a commercial supplier.
The third mission continues the transition from initial flight testing into repeated satellite delivery. Its published aviation window provides the period reserved for the operation. The mission’s customer payload work and the manufacture of follow-on vehicles form separate parts of preparing that flight.
How Spectrum Carries Small Satellites
Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum specifications describe a two-stage rocket measuring 28 meters long and two meters in diameter. The company lists payload capability of up to 1,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit and 700 kilograms to a Sun-synchronous orbit. The latter is an orbital arrangement used to maintain a consistent relationship between a satellite’s ground passes and local solar time.
Nine engines power the first stage, and one powers the second. Both stages use liquid oxygen and propane. The first stage provides the initial ascent, after which the upper stage continues accelerating the payload toward its deployment orbit.
Spectrum’s Aquila propulsion system is developed in-house. The company specifies multiple ignition capability for the second-stage engine, allowing the upper stage to perform more than one powered segment. That capability supports mission profiles in which orbital insertion and subsequent positioning are handled through separate maneuvers.
The vehicle is intended for small and medium satellites and constellations. Its capacity figures describe the mass that can be delivered to specified orbit classes. The different figures for low Earth orbit and Sun-synchronous orbit reflect the different delivery profiles being offered.
An Austrian Customer Mission
One announced payload for the third Spectrum flight is AT-Astra, developed by Vienna-based R-Space. Austria in Space’s June 2026 mission announcement identifies it as a commercial satellite developed, built, and operated in Austria. The mission carries three customer experiments.
AT-Astra brings a spacecraft operator and its customers into the launch program. R-Space supplies the satellite and its operations, and Spectrum supplies the flight to orbit. The arrangement separates the launch service from the experiments’ subsequent work aboard the spacecraft.
ENPULSION’s experiment will heat indium to its melting point and image the liquid metal in microgravity. Indium is the propellant used in its field-emission electric propulsion systems. SunBooster will test a solar module, and Synopsis Planet will demonstrate a compact star tracker that combines attitude determination with detection of moving objects. The experiments put propulsion materials, power generation, and optical sensing on the same host spacecraft.
The June announcement assigned AT-Astra to Spectrum’s third flight from Andøya. The newly reported aviation notice supplies a later, more specific operational window for that flight. Together, the payload announcement and launch-window reporting describe a customer mission being prepared within Isar Aerospace’s next orbital launch.
