Orbital launch site on Andøya island in northern Norway, used by European rocket startups including Isar Aerospace for test flights.
EU and French leaders used a Paris summit on 10 September to call for sovereign launch and crew capability. The parts actually under construction are a 348-satellite constellation, German defence budgets and a first orbital launch from Norwegian soil.
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A private European rocket reached orbit from Norway this weekend, and the fund making the sovereign-launch case in public is also the one asking Allied governments to start writing the orders that would pay for it.
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The second flight of Spectrum put satellites into orbit from northern Norway, four days before Macron's sovereignty summit in Paris. For anyone shopping non-US small lift, the constraint is now a manifest described as full to 2028.
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Isar's Spectrum gives Europe a launch path that does not run through French Guiana or the United States. At about one tonne of payload and one success in two attempts, it is a supplier to qualify rather than a slot to book.
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The European Launcher Challenge pays nothing up front and releases cash only against milestones, which makes ESA a tranched investor that takes no equity, and gives Isar, RFA and PLD until 2028 to reach orbit.
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