Norway has officially opened the first orbital spaceport in continental Europe, Andøya. It is located on the island of the same name in the Nordmela region in the north-west of the country. The information about the opening was published on the official website of the aerospace company Andøya Space managing the cosmodrome.

Crown Prince Haakon of Norway took part in the opening ceremony of the facility on November 2.

The Andøya Spaceport will allow Norway to become one of the countries capable of launching small and medium-sized satellites into space. The complex includes a flight control center, infrastructure for preparing for launches and several launch sites.

Andøya's location in the far north will allow for orbital launches with a strong retrograde (90° to 180°) inclination, according to the spaceport operator. They are favorable for sun-synchronous and polar orbits and are in great demand, since the capabilities for launching vehicles on such trajectories are limited worldwide.

The first launch from Andøya is expected to be carried out by the private German aerospace company Isar Aerospace as part of testing its own two-stage Spectrum launch vehicle.