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Isar Aerospace launches Spectrum, fails early in first stage flight

Isar Aerospace, based near Munich, Germany, made the first-ever launch attempt of its Spectrum two-stage…

Spectrum, which took six years of development to reach its first flight, is a rocket built largely out of carbon composites while also featuring 3D-printed high performance metal parts for the engines. Spectrum was also designed with non-pyrotechnic devices for stage and fairing separation, which is meant to give payloads a smoother ride to orbit without jolts caused by using pyrotechnics. Isar Aerospace, named after a river that flows through Munich, has received a launch order from the Norwegian Space Agency for its Arctic Ocean Surveillance program.

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