Airbus Defence and Space to use Isar Aerospace for satellite launch services
Munich, 22 April 2021 - Isar Aerospace adds a global space industry player to its launch manifest: Airbus Defence and Space has committed to one launch, plus options, of a small Earth observation satellite into Earth’s orbit with Isar Aerospace’s “Spectrum” launch vehicle. This constitutes the first major launch contract between an established space company and a privately financed European launcher company. This launch service agreement shows the demand of European companies for a flexible, cost-efficient and purely European alternative to bringing satellites into space.
Isar Aerospace eyes customer inquiries amounting to more than half a billion euros for its vehicle that can transport up to 1.2 tons into low Earth orbit (LEO). Airbus Defence and Space is one of the world leaders in manufacturing and operating complete Earth observation and communication satellite systems.
“Isar Aerospace offers an innovative and attractive small launcher solution that is complementary to existing medium and large launchers in Europe. Adding this launch option from Kourou and Norway to the Airbus portfolio will ensure that we continue to deliver optimum solutions to meet the needs of our Earth observation satellite customers around the world. We are delighted to work with this European start-up”, says Philippe Pham, Airbus’ Head of Earth Observation, Navigation & Science Satellites.
“We are delighted to welcome Airbus Defence and Space, a leading established space company, to our launch manifest and are looking forward to jointly enable turnkey European space missions. The contract underlines the great progress our team has achieved in the last year and is a great sign of trust in our capabilities to provide flexible and cost-efficient access to space”, says Daniel Metzler, CEO of Isar Aerospace.
“There is an enormous need for access to space from companies around the world, but launch capacity is still limited, expensive and inflexible. We are proud to offer customers a flexible alternative for their individual space transportation needs”, says Alexandre Dalloneau, Vice President of Mission and Launch Operations at Isar Aerospace.
Isar Aerospace is the leading European space company able to transport sophisticated small and medium satellites including satellite constellations into earth’s orbit. The company offers highly flexible services based on customer’s needs in dedicated missions as well as small satellite launches in rideshare missions. The team around the founders developed a pragmatic engineering approach, a highly automated manufacturing and a simple design to increase higher launch cadences and reduce the cost of each rocket launch drastically. Moreover, the approach stands out as the entire value creation is carried out within Europe.
About Isar Aerospace
Isar Aerospace, based in Ottobrunn/Munich, develops and builds launch vehicles for transporting small and medium-sized satellites as well as satellite constellations into earth’s orbit. The company was founded in 2018 by Daniel Metzler, Josef Fleischmann and Markus Brandl. Since then, it has grown to more than 120 employees from around 30 nations with many years of hands-on rocket know-how as well as experience within other high-tech industries. The company is privately financed by former SpaceX VP Bulent Altan as well as world-leading Venture Capital firms including Airbus Ventures, Apeiron, Earlybird, HV Capital, Lakestar, UVC Partners and Vsquared Ventures.
Find more information under: https://www.isaraerospace.com
Press contact
Tina Schmitt
E tina.schmitt@isaraerospace.com
