The Andøya Spaceport in Norway has made history by officially opening its doors as the first operational orbital spaceport in continental Europe. The spaceport, located on the Norwegian island of Andøya, will be the future launch site for small and medium-sized satellites of Isar Aerospace and its Spectrum rocket. The site's opening ceremony was presided over by H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, and marks a significant milestone for the Andøya region, Norway, and Isar Aerospace.
The Andøya Spaceport has previously provided infrastructure for sub-orbital flights since 1962, including around 1,200 launches of sounding rockets and long duration balloon flights. However, with the construction of the launch site, the spaceport has taken a big step towards enabling sovereign and competitive access to space in Europe. Isar Aerospace, the rocket manufacturer that will be utilizing the new launch site, has been working towards solving the most crucial bottleneck in the European space industry - access to space.
Isar Aerospace was founded in 2018 as a spin-off of Technical University Munich, and has built a two-stage launch vehicle called Spectrum. The Spectrum rocket will be the first test flight that will take place from the Andøya Spaceport. The fully-owned subsidiary of Andøya Space, the Andøya Spaceport, will become a critical contributor to the space industry in Europe as it offers an excellent location for orbital launches with polar and sun-synchronous low Earth orbits.
The Swedish Esrange Spaceport presents itself as an orbital launch site, but the Andøya Spaceport is unique having constructed a launch site specifically for small and medium-sized satellites. The opening of the spaceport is good news for Europe's space industry, as it can finally enjoy more autonomous access to space.
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