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German startup Isar Aerospace launched its Spectrum rocket from the Andoya spaceport in Arctic Norway, marking the first orbital launch from Western European soil. The mission, carrying five small satellites and a technology experiment, served as both a vehicle qualification test and the company's first payload flight, following a failed attempt 18 months earlier.
German rocket startup Isar Aerospace successfully placed satellites into orbit during its second launch attempt, dubbed 'Onward and Upward,' lifting off from Andøya Space in Norway. The rocket cleared key milestones including max dynamic pressure, stage separation, second-stage ignition, and crossing the Kármán line before completing spacecraft separation. The payloads came from a German Space Agency competition offering educational institutions and startups affordable orbital access.
German company Isar Aerospace launched its Spectrum rocket from Andøya Space Center in Norway on Sept. 5, and about seven minutes later the vehicle reached an elliptical orbit. It was the rocket's second attempt, after a March 2025 debut flight failed less than a minute after liftoff due to a valve issue and loss of attitude control.
Isar Aerospace has finished stage testing for its second Spectrum rocket launch from Andøya Space in Norway, less than nine months after its debut test flight in March. Both vehicle stages passed 30-second integrated static fire tests, confirming readiness for final integration and launch preparations.
Isar Aerospace has opened a weeklong launch window starting Friday at Andøya Spaceport to try again to send its Spectrum rocket to orbit carrying small CubeSats. The German company's first orbital test failed shortly after liftoff last year, and repeated attempts since January have been delayed by technical issues and range availability. The launch comes as Norway observes a period of mourning for King Harald V, though officials say the mission can proceed as planned.
A study published in Microbiology Spectrum tested the long-held belief that Bunsen burners create protective convection currents that clear bacteria from lab benches. Researchers led by microbiologist Hannah Gavin used a visible strain of bacteria, Gordonia rubripertincta, to show the burners did not reduce contamination and in some cases spread it further across surfaces.
A recent IEEE Spectrum careers newsletter, produced with Parsity, argues that engineers can gain mentorship benefits without ever formally asking someone to be a mentor. The author describes learning by observing and copying admired colleagues' habits, and by asking small, targeted questions about how others solve problems or approach their work.
AT&T filed a lawsuit against Charter on Friday, claiming Spectrum's marketing of its internet as 'fiber-powered' misleads customers who aren't actually getting a full fiber connection. Spectrum's network relies on fiber-optic lines for most of its infrastructure but typically switches to copper coaxial cable for the final stretch into homes, unlike true fiber providers that run fiber directly to the wall jack. The suit was filed in Dallas, a market where both companies compete heavily for broadband customers.
Spectrum is now offering a complimentary Amazon Prime subscription, normally priced at $14.99 monthly, to customers enrolled in its Internet Assist program for low-income households and seniors. Eligibility includes recipients of SSI, SNAP, Medicaid or the National School Lunch Program, and both new and existing Spectrum internet customers can claim it regardless of which internet tier they use. The perk arrives shortly after Spectrum reported losing 172,000 internet subscribers in its latest quarterly earnings.
Nvidia reports fiscal second-quarter results Wednesday, with investors closely watching how much of its revenue still comes from a handful of hyperscale cloud giants versus a broader base of AI cloud, industrial and enterprise customers. The company recently began splitting its reporting into hyperscaler revenue and a separate category it calls ACIE, covering thousands of other buyers. CEO Jensen Huang has acknowledged that hyperscalers remain the easiest customers to sell to because there are only a handful of them, compared with roughly 250,000 other companies in the broader market.