Overview
Andøya Spaceport is an orbital launch site at Nordmela on Andøya, the northernmost island of the Vesterålen archipelago in northern Norway, at 69°N, well inside the Arctic Circle. It is run by Andøya Space, the majority state-owned company that has flown research rockets from its range near Andenes, at the island's northern tip, since 1962. The spaceport opened in November 2023 and is the home of Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket, which reached orbit from here in September 2026.
Facility Details
| Parameter | Detail |
|---|---|
| Location | Nordmela, Andøya, Nordland, Norway |
| Coordinates | 69.11°N, 15.59°E |
| Operator | Andøya Spaceport, part of Andøya Space |
| Established / First Launch | Rocket range 1962; spaceport opened 2023; first orbital launch 2025 |
| Active Vehicles | Spectrum (Isar Aerospace); sounding rockets from the range near Andenes |
| Launch Pads | 1 orbital pad, reserved for Isar Aerospace; more planned |
| Orbital Access | Polar and sun-synchronous |
| First Orbit Reached | Sun-synchronous, 97.4°, about 520 to 600 km (Spectrum Flight 2) |
A Rocket Range Since 1962
The range's first rocket, Ferdinand 1, lifted off on 18 August 1962 and climbed to about 100 km. More than 1,000 sounding rockets and long-duration research balloons have followed. Many have studied the upper atmosphere and the aurora: Andøya sits under the band where the northern lights are most frequent, so rockets can fly straight into them.
Spectrum: First to Orbit
In April 2021, the German launch company Isar Aerospace secured exclusive use of the spaceport's first launch pad, for up to 20 years. Its two-stage Spectrum rocket first flew on 30 March 2025; that flight ended about 30 seconds after lift-off. On 5 September 2026, the second Spectrum placed five satellites in a sun-synchronous orbit. It was the first time a rocket had reached orbit from European soil outside Russia. Every Spectrum flight is listed under Isar Aerospace launches.
Why Andøya?
From Andøya, rockets fly north over the open Norwegian Sea, clear of populated land. That path leads straight into the polar and sun-synchronous orbits used by Earth observation, weather and climate satellites, orbits in high demand among small-satellite operators.