Isar Aerospace is a German
aerospace company
An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry.
...
based in
Munich, Germany. The company was founded in 2018. The company is named after the
river that flows through Munich.
Development
The company is developing
Spectrum
A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...
, a two-stage, liquid-fueled
rocket
A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...
designed to launch 1,000 kilograms to low
Earth orbit
Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 149.60 million km (92.96 million mi) in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from above the Northern Hemisphere. One complete orbit takes days (1 sidereal year), during which time Earth ...
.
Isar Aerospace intends to manufacture 80% of the rocket themselves, using primarily technology from the tech firms in the area surrounding Munich.
The first test flight of Spectrum is scheduled for 2023.
Funding
In April 2020 Isar Aerospace closed US$17M in Series A funding to build its space platform.
In December 2020, the company got an additional €75 million ($91 million) in funding.
In April 2021, Isar Aerospace, signed a contract with
Andøya Space
Andøya Space, also named Andøya Space Center and formerly Andøya Rocket Range, is a rocket launch site, rocket range, and spaceport on Andøya island (the northernmost in the Vesterålen archipelago) in Andøy Municipality in Nordland county, ...
to lease the launch pad. The 20-year deal will allow the company to launch the Spectrum.
In July 2021,
Porsche SE
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE (), is a German multinational corporation primarily known as a holding company of Volkswagen Group with investments in the automotive industry. Porsche SE is headquartered in Zuffenh ...
acquired a small stake in Isar Aerospace. The financial terms of the deal are not disclosed, but it is known that in the new round of financing, the startup raised about $75 million. Porsche explained of its investment that Isar Aerospace had great potential to become a leading
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an manufacturer of launch vehicles.
In total, the startup has raised more than $180 million from investors such as HV Capital, Lakestar, Earlybird and Airbus Ventures.
In January 2022 the company won
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
’s European Innovation Council (EIC) Horizon Prize “Low-Cost Space Launch”, granted with 10 million euros.
In July 2022, Isar Aerospace announced that the French space agency, the
CNES
The (CNES; French: ''Centre national d'études spatiales'') is the French government space agency (administratively, a "public administration with industrial and commercial purpose"). Its headquarters are located in central Paris and it is und ...
, selected the startup to be the first private company to be launched from the
Guiana Space Centre
The Guiana Space Centre (french: links=no, Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximatel ...
, in
French Guiana
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...
. The company will use the former launchpad of
Diamant
The Diamant rocket (French for "diamond") was the first exclusively French expendable launch system and at the same time the first satellite launcher not built by either the United States or USSR. As such, it has been referred to as being a key ...
.
See also
*
Rocket Factory Augsburg
Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) is a German New Space start-up located in Augsburg. It was founded in 2018 with the mission to build rockets just like cars. Its multistage rocket, , is currently under development and scheduled to launch in la ...
*
HyImpulse HyImpulse is a German private space launch enterprise headquartered in Neuenstadt am Kocher and developing a small launch vehicle designed around hybrid-propellant rockets. The company is a DLR spinoff founded in 2018 out of the chemical propulsio ...
References
External links
Isar Aerospace - Launch Solutions for Satellite Constellations
Aerospace companies of Germany
Private spaceflight companies
German companies established in 2018
Manufacturing companies based in Munich
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