Watch: Disaster Strikes German Space Rocket 

There is growing unease across the European continent—from the war in Ukraine and the migrant crisis to economic troubles in Germany and even the continent’s lagging space program.

Without a doubt, what infuriates the liberals in Brussels most is that Elon Musk’s SpaceX is running circles around the European Space Agency and its institutional partners in terms of space access and securing space-based communications.

The latest mishap for the ESA is the German startup Isar Aerospace’s first rocket launch attempt to reach low Earth orbit, which ended in a fireball earlier Sudnay.

“What a success! At 12:30 CEST, Isar Aerospace successfully launched its Spectrum launch vehicle from Andøya Spaceport in Norway. The launch vehicle aborted after approximately 30 seconds in the air, and the vehicle fell straight into the sea. The launch platform appears to be intact,” Isar Aerospace wrote in a statement, quoted by local media outlet VG. 

LAUNCH! Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum rocket launches from the Orbital Launch Pad at the Andøya Space Center in Norway.

Overview:https://t.co/64HcC1kqIH

Live Isar/NSF:https://t.co/aGH02uqNum

And failed early in first stage flight. That’s why it’s a test flight. pic.twitter.com/SfolnqhtBu

— NSF – NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) March 30, 2025

Drone and pad footage from Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum launch. You can see it avoided the pad when it came down. pic.twitter.com/NePozHqYad

— NSF – NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) March 30, 2025

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic… 

First time humans will be in polar orbit around Earth launches on Monday!@framonauts https://t.co/s0fNKcUxNx

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 29, 2025

Data from Bryce Tech shows that SpaceX has given the world a master class in rocket launch domination and quickly scaling the largest satellite constellation network operated by Starlink.

The US leads the space race because of Spacex.

SpaceX is a perfect example of how privatization of the space industry—removing rocket launches from the government—can result in a tremendous innovation wave after decades of stagnating the sector due to bloated government.