Fishing boat disrupts German start-up's rocket test flight in Norway

The second test flight of German start-up Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket was called off moments before lift-off at Norway's Andøya spaceport late on Wednesday due to a Norwegian fisherman.

The company said the launch was "aborted during autosequence" after "a hold in countdown due to a range violation of the danger area by an unauthorized boat." It said the countdown reset exceeded the launch window.

The fisherman, Olafur Einarsson, admitted in the newspaper Coast and Fjord newspaper on Thursday that he failed to leave the maritime safety zone around the Andøya Space Centre in time.

Munich-based Isar Aerospace, founded in 2018, is a European rival to Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.

Spectrum is designed to carry civilian and military satellites into low Earth orbit.

A successful mission would mark a major milestone for Europe's space industry, potentially enabling satellites to be launched from the continent using European-built rockets.

Europe is currently lagging behind the United States, China and India in the space sector, amid delays in the development of the European Space Agency's Ariane 6 launcher.

Isar previously postponed its first launch in January because of a defective valve.

The second test was forced to be delayed on Wednesday due to the actions of the fisherman Einarsson, who is believed to have disrupted a military exercise in the area in the past.

The fisherman denied any malicious intent, saying his boat experienced "problems with the current and a mess with the fishing gear."

Fishing boats in the region have complained about the development of the space base at Andøya, an island north of the Lofotens inside the Arctic Circle.

"For us fishermen, this is our workplace, and then they come here and want to use the same area," Einarsson told the newspaper. "You could say we’ve ended up with a bad neighbour."

While the delay was a setback for Isar, chief executive and co-founder Daniel Metzler had sought to lower expectations of the launch at a press briefing on Tuesday, pointing to SpaceX, which needed four attempts to reach space.

Founded in 2018, the growing importance of the Andøya space base was underlined earlier in March when German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited the centre alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støhre.

Metzler said around 60% of inquiries for Isar's rockets come from the military sector. He added that the company is already booked through 2028 with orders worth several hundred million dollars, even though the rocket is not yet ready for serial production.

The company has not yet announced a date for a new launch.