Spaceflight Inc., one of the leading global launch services providers, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for upcoming launches with Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) at the International Astronautical Congress 2022 (IAC).
According to the agreement, both the companies will work together to offer rideshare, last-mile delivery with cost effective launch services and will provide tailored missions to customers across Europe.
The agreement also formalizes the plan for Spaceflight to fly its Sherpa orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) and other rideshare payloads on upcoming RFA missions from a variety of European launch sites, including from facilities in the United Kingdom, French Guiana and others. The companies are targeting mid-2024 for their first launch.
“The demand for access to cost-effective, last-mile delivery launches is growing rapidly from customers with payloads of all sizes and types,” said Curt Blake, CEO and president of Spaceflight.
“Having many different launch options across different price points, orbital destinations, and facility locations is very important to our savvy spacecraft developer customers. RFA brings increased price competitiveness and launch frequency from many different launch locations throughout Europe. We’re looking forward to extending our launch vehicle portfolio for Sherpa OTVs and rideshare services to now include RFA ONE.”
“Together with Spaceflight’s unmatched launch and in-space transportation expertise, we can provide the industry with more launch flexibility and options for competitively priced launches to LEO and beyond,” said Jörn Spurmann, Chief Commercial Officer, RFA.
RFA on satellite launch spree
Leveraging its location in the hub of the German automobile manufacturing industry, RFA is minimizing launch system costs with its unique serial production and assembly approach. RFA ONE, a three-stage, 30-meter rocket, can deliver up to 1,300 kilograms to a polar Earth orbit.
The company successfully completed the first test campaign of its Helix flight configuration engine in July 2022, confirming its milestone traction towards service commercialization.
RFA has already signed launch contracts with the German government and about a dozen customers for launches starting in 2023.
The RFA ONE rocket is expected to launch up to 50 times a year in the future, delivering satellites into near-Earth orbit quickly and reliably at a highly competitive price point.
Spaceflight’s family of Sherpa OTVs are designed to minimize development timelines while maximizing launch schedule reliability and mission assurance.
Beyond functioning as a port expander, the modular and flexible transportation vehicles bridge the gap between where a launch vehicle drops its satellites off and the satellites’ final destination orbit – whether that’s LEO, trans-lunar and low-lunar orbits, or beyond to geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO).
In addition to precise orbit insertion, Sherpa OTVs support payload hosting, as well as in-space servicing, such as spacecraft maintenance, infrastructure development and debris mitigation.
Recently, RFA officially signed a contract with ESA under the Boost!- ESA’s Commercial Space Transportation Services and Support program, which marks both parties working together to continue commercialization of European space transportation and challenging established processes.
“It is very exciting to witness the commercialization of European space transportation and to drive it forward together with ESA,” said Spurmann.
“We are proud to have the support of the German government and ESA. The speed with which we successfully moved through the process demonstrates the success of the Boost! program at ESA.”
Earlier this month, Spaceflight successfully launched Sherpa-LTC, its chemical propulsive OTV onboard a SpaceX Starlink mission.
The high-thrust propulsive Sherpa successfully deployed from the Falcon 9 at a 310-kilometer circular orbit, before igniting and beginning its mission of transporting a customer payload to a 1,000-kilometer circular orbit.
Previously, the company launched 50 payloads in 2021 from three different Sherpa OTVs, establishing a strong history of success with the program.
