#PLDSpace is targeting a production rate of 32 #Miura 5 launchers annually by 2030 https://payloadspace.com/plds-industrial-strategy-targets-32-rockets-a-year-by-2030

#EuropeanLauncherChallenge : #IsarAerospace, #RocketFactory Augsburg, #MaiaSpace, #Orbex, #PLDSpace https://payloadspace.com/esa-selects-finalists-for-european-launch-challenge

2024 #ESA has selected #RocketFactory Augsburg, The #ExplorationCompany, #ArianeGroup, and #IsarAerospace to develop reusable rocket technology https://europeanspaceflight.com/esa-selects-four-companies-to-develop-reusable-rocket-technology

A number of companies are working to become the first to launch satellites into space from European soil, with several planning on using #SaxaVord Spaceport. Germany’s #RFA is thought to have the most advanced plans https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/lanarkshire-scottish-north-lanarkshire-iceland-european-b1211534.html

Starting in 2025, at least two #European launch startups (#IsarAerospace and #RocketFactory Augsburg) expect to offer more choices for both institutional and commercial customers. The field will continue to widen toward the close of the decade, with #MaiaSpace, #Latitude, #HyImpulse, #HyPrSpace, #Orbex, #PLDSpace, and #Skyrora all working toward an inaugural flight of their respective vehicles. https://europeanspaceflight.com/arianegroup-already-working-to-secure-iris2-launch-contract

Approval granted for #RocketFactory Augsburg (#RFA) to launch from #SaxaVord spaceport https://www.independent.co.uk/space/civil-aviation-authority-scottish-government-unst-one-scottish-b2680687.html

The German government has announced that it will make €95 million in additional funding available to support #IsarAerospace, #RocketFactory Augsburg, and #HyImpulse. The funding was “released through reallocations and in some cases also higher subscriptions of German #ESA contributions.” https://europeanspaceflight.com/germany-commits-e95m-more-to-isar-rfa-and-hyimpulse

#Orbex will receive €5.6 million, #IsarAerospace €15 million, and both #RocketFactory Augsburg and #HyImpulse €11.8 million each https://europeanspaceflight.com/esa-awards-e44-2m-in-funding-to-four-european-rocket-builders

It's likely that rockets built by the likes of #Spain's #PLDSpace, #France's #MaiaSpace, and the #German duo #IsarAerospace and #RocketFactory Augsburg will also be blasting off from the center soon under the start-up plan. Efforts to drag the #spaceport into the 21st century are underway https://www.politico.eu/article/russian-rockets-clog-europes-south-american-spaceport

#RocketFactory Augsburg, #IsarAerospace https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRFnGnJzRJQ

German rocket start-up #RocketFactory Augsburg last week described #Ariane6 as “overpriced” , saying its development “at the #taxpayer’s expense has shown that something has to change” https://www.ft.com/content/2abdea1a-d985-4f25-90ee-af74524b736f

#Firefly to launch #Alpha rockets from #Esrange , #RocketFactory Augsburg from #SaxaVord Spaceport https://spacenews.com/firefly-to-launch-alpha-rockets-from-esrange-in-sweden/

#RFA at #SaxaVord #Spaceport https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw80qBV7LBc

At the end of 2022, the total funding secured by all #European launch startups since 2011 was €419 million. In 2023, that figure rose to €781 million, an 86% increase in the industry's total funding to date. In the first month and a half of 2024 alone, another €70.5 million has been added to that figure. With the addition of that early 2024 funding, the total comes to €850 million https://europeanspaceflight.substack.com/p/state-of-european-launch-startup

The new #Ariane 6 rocket, which is running four years late and still hasn't flown, should be the last #LaunchVehicle developed by #ESA, which will launch a competition of #launchers without weight class limitations. The field of startup launch companies in #Europe includes German firms like #HyImpulse, #RocketFactory Augsburg, and #IsarAerospace; British companies such as #Skyrora and #Orbex; and Spain's #PLDSpace. #ESA will use around 75 million euros to pay for the early stages of the #cargo challenge, which #Aschbacher expects will result in three companies competing with one another https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/11/after-the-sting-of-ariane-6-europe-finally-embraces-commercial-rockets/

#EuropeanSpaceflight Oct 11, 2023 What could #IsarAerospace, #RocketFactory Augsburg, and #Latitude do with €1.8 billion in funding split three ways over the same period ?

#Ariane 6 is a pill that we’re just going to have to swallow. We cannot cancel the programme and any new development would take several years to mature. What we can do, however, is make sure that #ArianeGroup is not involved in the future of European #launch https://europeanspaceflight.substack.com/p/arianegroup-wants-210m-per-year-more