Historic success: Slovenian satellite Trisat-S successfully reaches space

Slovenia’s Trisat-S satellite reached orbit aboard a rocket launched from Norway’s Andøya spaceport at 10:12 p.m. Central European time during Isar Aerospace’s “Onward and Upward” mission.

The launch marked a breakthrough for Isar Aerospace, which became the first European commercial space company to successfully place a satellite into orbit. “Isar Aerospace opens space for continental Europe,” the German company said in an enthusiastic statement.

The achievement also carries a clear Slovenian stamp. Trisat-S was among five commercial CubeSats and one educational nanosatellite aboard the rocket. Engineers assembled it at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Informatics at the University of Maribor and at the company Skylabs.

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Isar Aerospace opens space for continental Europe.

The Spectrum rocket stands 28 metres tall, measures two metres in diameter and has 10 engines. It can carry up to 1,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit. Isar Aerospace said the launch restored something Europe’s space industry had lost decades ago: sovereign access to space.

Chief Executive and co-founder Daniel Metzler said commercial customers now had an alternative and that the company had entered a new chapter in European spaceflight. Isar Aerospace plans to rapidly increase production and fulfil a growing order book. It designs and manufactures its rockets almost entirely in-house, already has four more rockets in production and plans to open a new facility near Munich this year.

Founded in 2018, the company now employs more than 400 people from over 50 countries and also relies on private investors for financing.

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There is now an alternative for commercial customers and companies.