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Europe Ramps Launch Capacity: Isar Sets Jan. 21 Payload Flight as Ariane 6 Plans 7–8 Launches and Amazon Debut

Both efforts reinforce Europe's push for sovereign access to space.

Overview

  • Isar Aerospace schedules its second Spectrum mission for Jan. 21 at 21:00 CET from Andøya, a qualification flight carrying five small satellites and an experiment pending weather and safety approvals.
  • The mission, called Onward and Upward, is intended to validate critical Spectrum systems under operational conditions and will be the rocket’s first flight with payloads.
  • Isar reports Spectrum vehicles three through seven are in production and a 40,000-square-meter manufacturing site in Vaterstetten-Parsdorf is planned to open this year.
  • Arianespace sets Feb. 12 for the first four-booster Ariane 64 from Kourou to deploy 32 Amazon Leo satellites on flight VA267, the first of 18 Ariane 6 launches booked by Amazon through 2029.
  • ArianeGroup plans seven to eight Ariane 6 missions in 2026, holds about 30 launches under contract, and aims to lift output to roughly 10 rockets per year by 2027 while evaluating further increases.