European Space Agency Chooses Contenders for European Launch Competition
The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced the winners of the first stage of its European Launcher Challenge (ELC), a competition aimed at creating a more competitive pool of launch services in Europe. The chosen companies are Germany's Isar Aerospace and Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), France's MaiaSpace, Scotland's Orbex, and Spain's PLD Space.
Isar Aerospace, which performed the first launch demo of its Spectrum rocket in March, will be aiming for a second chance following a failure 30 seconds into flight. Rocket Factory Augsburg, on the other hand, is planning a 2025 inaugural launch from SaxaVord Spaceport in the UK. Orbex is also on track for a 2026 launch from the same spaceport, while MaiaSpace is targeting a first launch from French Guiana in 2026. PLD Space, backed by Spain's investment of €40.5M ($47.5M) last year, is targeting a first launch of its Miura 5 vehicle in early 2026.
The funding for each company will come from their respective member states where they are headquartered. In December, Germany committed €95M ($111.5M) to its national launchers, including RFA. The UK government took a £20M ($27.2M) stake in Orbex's Series D in January, and Spain invested in PLD Space. The French government's involvement in MaiaSpace was not specified in the provided information.
The ELC funds will cover two stages of development: an initial launch capability, and a capacity-upgrade demonstration. Each of the chosen companies stands the chance to win a maximum of €169M ($198.3M) following ESA's November ministerial meeting. However, being passed over in this stage of the challenge will likely mean less available public funds for unselected companies, including the UK's Skyrora, France's Latitude, and France's Sirius Space Services.
The challenge requires companies to demonstrate a payload capacity upgrade by 2028. After the first flights, ESA will commit to procure launch services from a challenge participant for future ESA missions by 2030. This commitment is expected to help space agencies, militaries, and satellite companies reach orbit more regularly and affordably without relying solely on Vega C and Ariane 6.
The goal of the ELC is to create a more competitive European launch market, which could significantly increase the budgets of companies like Isar Aerospace and RFA. For instance, allotting the maximum amount to both Isar Aerospace and RFA would significantly increase Germany's ESA budget in 2025, which was €956.1M ($1.1B).
As the selected companies prepare for their respective launches, the European space industry eagerly awaits the results of the ELC, hoping it will lead to a more robust and affordable European launch market.
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