SEOPS, a Texas-based small-satellite launch aggregator, has signed a launch services agreement with Isar Aerospace for a dedicated mission on the company’s Spectrum rocket, scheduled for 2028, the companies said on Monday.
The deal marks a shift for SEOPS, which has relied exclusively on SpaceX rideshare missions since the retirement of Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket. SEOPS has previously integrated payloads on multiple U.S. launch vehicles and now adds a European option to its portfolio.
Isar Aerospace conducted the maiden flight of Spectrum in March. The test ended in failure when the rocket exploded seconds after liftoff, but the Munich-based company is preparing for a second attempt. Earlier this month, Isar said both rocket stages had been delivered to its launch site in Norway.
SEOPS said the new agreement aligns with increasing customer interest in diversified launch access. “LaunchLock Prime was built to give customers reliable, flexible access to launch capacity tailored to their mission needs… giving our customers greater control and choice in how and where their missions reach orbit,” said Evan Hoyt, Executive Vice President at SEOPS.
LaunchLock Prime offers a multi-mission framework that reserves capacity across several dedicated or rideshare flights under a single contract, allowing schedule flexibility and vehicle selection for satellite operators.
Despite not yet completing a successful orbital flight, Isar Aerospace has accumulated a sizable commercial manifest. The company signed a multi-launch arrangement with Exotrail in November 2022, followed by a dedicated-flight agreement with Spaceflight Inc. in early 2023. In 2025, the Norwegian Space Agency tapped Spectrum to deploy two Arctic surveillance satellites by 2028, and later that year Isar secured an institutional-mission contract under the ESA–European Commission Flight Ticket Initiative, with missions starting in 2026.
