Rocket Factory Augsburg

General Rocket Factory Augsburg was founded as a spin-off of OHB SE in 2018 by Jörn Spurmann (CCO of RFA), Stefan Brieschenk (COO of RFA), Hans Steiniger (CEO of MT Aerospace) and Marco Fuchs (CEO of OHB SE). As of 2021, Spurmann, Brieschenk, Steiniger, Fuchs, Stefan Tweraser (CEO of RFA), and Jean-Jacques Dordain (Chairman) made up the board of RFA. OHB SE and Apollo Capital Partners GmbH are investors. In March 2021, RFA relocated to a new headquarters facility in Augsburg. In April 2022, RFA won the second round of the "DLR microlauncher competition". As part of this contract RFA will launch 150 kg for the German Aerospace Center (DLR) aboard each of the first two RFA One flights. RFA will also receive €11 million to further the development of its launch vehicle. By May 2024, a hot fire test with five Helix engines was performed at SaxaVord Spaceport. On Monday, 19 August 2024, a static fire test of the RFA One first stage with all nine engines, the same hardware that was slated to fly on the maiden flight of RFA One, was performed. An anomaly occurred that resulted in a fire, subsequent explosion, loss of the stage, and significant damage to the launch mount. Ground testing of a new RFA One launch vehicle is slated for 2025, and 2025 is also the revised estimate for an initial orbital launch attempt. On 7 July 2025, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced that it had preselected Rocket Factory Augsburg as one of the five candidates for the European Launcher Challenge. Locations RFA is headquartered in Augsburg, close to Munich, with composite material manufacturing in Portugal, test facilities in Sweden and Scotland, and a launch facility in Scotland. Since March 2021, the main factory and offices have been located at Berliner Allee 65, Augsburg. The company has a team based at the rocket engine development and test site Esrange in Kiruna, Sweden. Since June 2021 RFA has had a Portuguese subsidiary, "RFA Portugal Unipessoal LDA," located in Matosinhos, to develop and qualify composite structures for RFA One. In January 2023, RFA announced that it had secured exclusive access to Launch Pad Fredo at the SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland. The company said that the multi-year partnership included a "double-digit million pound investment" in SaxaVord by RFA. The company will use the facility to launch RFA One launch vehicle to polar and Sun-synchronous orbits. The maiden flight of the RFA One is planned to be launched from SaxaVord. On 29 January 2024, RFA announced plans to launch rockets monthly from SaxaVord Spaceport on Unst in the Shetland Islands, aiming to be Europe's first-ever launch delivering a satellite into orbit. After a static fire test anomaly in August 2024, the company anticipates its initial launch in 2025, following extensive testing and assembly in Augsburg and on-site preparation. == Projects==

RFA One launch vehicle Rocket Factory Augsburg's first launch vehicle is RFA One, a three-stage rocket designed to launch small satellites and payloads of up to 1,300 kg into polar orbits. The vehicle is long with a diameter of . The second stage will use one engine, a vacuum-optimised version of the Helix engine. Later versions of these components have been developed internally. The third stage, named Redshift, will function as an orbital transfer vehicle (OTV). Since its Fenix engine can be fired multiple times, it is able to reach different orbits within a single flight and complete different missions for different customers. PROTEIN heavy lifter study In 2023, RFA participated in ESA's PROTEIN study, calling for the creation of a concept of an heavy lift launch vehicle capable of carrying up to 10,000 tons of cargo to low-Earth orbit per year, while not exceeding a recurring cost of 280€/kg payload to orbit. RFA's concept was 7m in diameter and between 130 and 140m in length (depending on the presence or absence of a third stage), utilizing methalox engines for its 1st stage and hydrolox engines for its second stage, with both stages landing vertically. == See also ==