Launch service provider Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) announced that it has raised a €30 million investment from KKR, a leading global investment firm. The fresh funding is a vote of confidence for RFA as global demand for access to space continues to grow. The investment will facilitate RFA’s upcoming integrated first-stage test and complete the company’s launch pad at SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland, to eventually bring the RFA ONE microlauncher to the launchpad. The first flight is scheduled for Q2 2024. With its €30 million convertible bond investment, KKR will become a leading investor in RFA alongside the existing strategic investor OHB.
Stefan Tweraser, CEO at RFA, “We aim to provide cost-effective access to space and data-generating business models in space for monitoring, connecting, and protecting our planet. This new financing reflects confidence in RFA and validates our cost-efficient approach and technical achievements.”
As global demand for cost-effective and flexible launch services to access space rises, RFA’s launch service offering is ideally positioned to benefit from this market opportunity. KKR’s investment follows the company’s successful completion of its upper-stage hot fire test in May 2023, the first of its kind in Europe. This underlines investors’ trust in the business model of RFA, which prioritizes speedy and sustainable growth and maintains strong investment value for existing and new investors, and extends RFA’s technology and cost leadership.
