Things are getting exciting at Isar Aerospace. The eagerly awaited first test flight of the German space start-up's launch vehicle called „Spectrum“ had to be postponed on Monday last week – the weather was unfavourable. The date for the next attempt is not known, and it is not yet clear whether the rocket will be able to remain at the launch site at the Norwegian space centre Andøya until then.

But one thing is certain: the matter is urgent. Europe's dependence on the United States for rocket launch services is proving to be increasingly risky against the backdrop of worsening relations. US dominance is mainly attributable to the aerospace company SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk. It not only dominates the market for transporting satellites into space, but also the satellite market itself via its Starlink network. This market is also becoming increasingly important in the military sector, as the recent war in Ukraine has shown.

Alternatives are needed, and they need to be found quickly. Young European companies such as Isar Aerospace from Munich, Rocket Factory Augsburg, and Hyimpulse from Neuenstadt am Kocher, are already working on this with their own small launch vehicles, so-called „microlaunchers“. Although it is unlikely that they will ever be able to catch up with SpaceX's massive lead, they will at least be able to secure a slice of the pie in the market for rocket launch services in the future, and thus give Europe access to space.

What the local industry needs for this is, of course, even more courageous investors. Private investors in particular often steer clear of such costly and long-term ventures as space travel, preferring to channel their funds into areas where ideas can supposedly be realised quickly and easily, such as software companies. The fact that a large proportion of the funds are channelled into advertising due to the low barriers to entry does not seem to bother investors so far.

Isar Aerospace now at least has the opportunity to advertise itself with the test flight of „Spectrum“. The start-up is managing expectations, and never tires of emphasising that the rocket can explode during the launch – and that 30 seconds of flight time would be a success. This is a lesson learnt from SpaceX: the first three flights of the Falcon 1 rocket also failed.