Isar Aerospace starts production of orbital launch vehicles

• Isar Aerospace starts production of launch vehicles in the promising segment of small and medium-sized satellites and satellite constellations

• Isar Aerospace is reducing the cost of rocket launches drastically, thereby enabling purely European applications in areas such as autonomous driving and connectivity

• With the first rocket launch in 2021, Europe will have cost-efficient access to a central technological platform for the first time

• Bavarian Prime Minister Dr. Markus Söder, MdL, opens production site

Munich, 7 September 2020 - Space is one of the central technological platforms in the coming years – and Isar Aerospace is providing the necessary infrastructure for Germany and Europe. Today, Bavarian Prime Minister Dr. Markus Söder, MdL, opened the production site for Isar Aerospace in Ottobrunn near Munich. As early as 2021, Isar Aerospace will transport small and medium-sized satellites into the Earth’s orbit with Europe’s most powerful privately financed launch vehicle.

"Over the last two years, we have been developing and designing a launch vehicle that will provide Europe with cost-efficient and flexible access to space. With our new production site in Ottobrunn, we are now able to start the production and accelerate our development in order to launch our first rocket in 2021. We welcome the political backing in Bavaria and Germany. Support in the beginning is crucial so that groundbreaking technologies and new business models can emerge in space in the coming years", said Daniel Metzler, founder and CEO of Isar Aerospace.

"Daniel and the entire team can be more than proud of what they have achieved in such a short time – and we are proud to have been the first investor supporting this exciting space story in Germany", says Thomas Oehl, partner at Vito Ventures.

Isar Aerospace is developing launch vehicles to transport small and medium-sized satellites into space. The ‘Spectrum’ rockets in their first generation are designed for a payload of up to 1,200 kilograms and transport satellites to an altitude of 400 to 1,200 kilometers. Among other missions, these launch vehicles are also suitable for satellite constellations. Isar Aerospace thus operates in one of the most promising sectors of the space industry, which is expected to grow to one trillion euros annually by 2040. The market for rocket launches is expected to increase to more than 30 billion euros by 2027 – almost 10 billion of which stemming from the deployment of small and medium-sized satellites.

“Through Isar Aerospace and their innovative solution for small to medium launch, not only the European, but the global satellite ecosystem will find cost-effective and quick-to-call access to space. I see the development of such a capability in Europe as a great catalyst for the global constellation ecosystem, where we see the number of satellites projected for launch increase drastically year over year”, says Bulent Altan, CEO of Mynaric, former Vice President at SpaceX and investor of Isar Aerospace.

The segment for small and medium-sized satellites is particularly interesting because this is where a significant portion of the innovations will take place over the coming years. Latency periods are reduced to a few milliseconds with satellite constellations in low Earth orbit. This will enable the always-connected car and therefore to meet much higher safety requirements in the field of autonomous driving. Satellite constellations will also provide people around the world with high-speed internet. In addition, new possibilities are emerging with regards to data encryption and data storage, ubiquitous industrial connectivity, smart farming, the prediction of forest fires or surveillance of rail networks and air traffic. Isar Aerospace transports the satellites necessary for these applications into the Earth’s orbit in a cost-efficient and highly flexible manner.

“We are firmly convinced that in the coming decade, micro satellites in the low Earth orbit (LEO) will become a key platform technology with enormous innovation and business potential. The strategic bottleneck, however, is still access to this orbit with the appropriate rockets, or so-called micro launch vehicles. Launch vehicles of this size offer high cost efficiency and great flexibility. These factors make them interesting for a wide range of private sector applications, such as the automotive or telecommunications industries, or for research and government institutions. As of 2021, Isar Aerospace will provide this essential infrastructure. As their largest investor, we are extremely proud to accompany these outstanding founders on their path”, says Hendrik Brandis, Co-Partner and Partner of Earlybird Venture Capital.

With a pragmatic engineering approach, highly automated manufacturing and a simple design, Isar Aerospace reduces the cost of each rocket launch drastically. Isar Aerospace, for example, relies on integrated fuel tanks that consist of just a single component, as well as on the additive manufacturing of rocket engines. The manufacturing of rocket engines will benefit from economies of scale, thereby reducing costs per unit for every engine significantly. This will make European aerospace internationally competitive and satellite constellations commercially viable.

"So far, rocket launches in Europe have simply not been economical. By combining a simple design with innovative materials and efficient propulsion, we cut the cost per kilogram that we transport into orbit for our customers drastically. For the very first time, this breakthrough makes the use of satellites across a variety of technological applications interesting and economically viable for commercial as well as non-commercial customers", says Josef Fleischmann, founder and COO of Isar Aerospace.

In addition, Isar Aerospace is also focused on sustainability: The company uses fuels that are not only much lower in emissions but also more efficient.

Isar Aerospace, based in Ottobrunn/Munich, develops and builds launch vehicles for transporting small and medium-sized satellites as well as satellite constellations into the Earth’s orbit. The company was founded in 2018 by Daniel Metzler, Josef Fleischmann and Markus Brandl. Since then, it has grown to about 100 employees with many years of hands-on rocket knowhow as well as experience at Intel, Apple, Panasonic, Airbus and SpaceX. The company is financed with more than 15 million euros by Airbus Ventures, Apeiron, Bulent Altan, Earlybird Venture Capital, Vito Ventures, UVC and Andreas Kupke.

Find more information under: www.isaraerospace.com

Tina Schmitt

E tina.schmitt@isaraerospace.com