Launch Facilities Agreement Signed by Rocket Factory Augsburg AG + South Australia Launch – SatNews

Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) has joined forces with South launch, a South Australian rocket launch facility provider. This partnership allows the German launcher RFA ONE to be launched from Southern Launch’s Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex in South Australia. Southern Launch’s orbital complex allows direct ascent to sun-synchronous and polar orbits.

The agreement will enable RFA to provide flexible, inexpensive and accurate launch services with its FRG ONE from a regional spaceport in the Asia-Pacific region. This small three-stage rocket, with its highly efficient staged combustion engine and orbital stage, can deliver up to 1,350 kg. 300km away. polar orbit.

The rocket is 30 meters high and 2 meters wide and has reached significant milestones in its development over the past year. The RFA ONE is expected to be launched up to fifty times a year in the future, delivering near-Earth orbit satellites quickly and reliably at a very competitive price.

The first engagement between RFA and Southern Launch took place at International Astronautical CongressWashington in 2019, and the parties are now very pleased to have finalized and signed a launch services agreement at the Global Space and Technology Convention in Singapore.

Jörn SpurmannCommercial Director of RFA, said: “Launching from South Australia allows us to offer our launch services in a very customer-focused way from a regional spaceport in the Asia-Pacific region. It marks a central milestone in our strategy for globally distributed launch capability. With various launch sites around the world, we minimize logistics and time constraints for our customers and lay the foundations of the infrastructure for a weekly launch cadence. Southern Launch offers a comprehensive and competitive service to launch our rockets. We couldn’t have asked for a better partner.”

Wet LloydCEO of Southern Launch, said:We are delighted to announce this partnership with Rocket Factory Augsburg AG, which will see its RFA ONE launch vehicle launched into space from Southern Launch sites in South Australia. This partnership once again demonstrates Australia’s world-class space launch capabilities to the international space industry.”

Rocket Factory Augsburg was founded in 2018 with a mission to dramatically reduce launch costs in the space industry. The company’s goal is to develop a prototype launch vehicle by the end of 2022, capable of launching satellites into low Earth orbit every week at unparalleled prices. The RFA ONE launcher combines three key competitive advantages: an extremely customer-focused service thanks to our orbital stage with precise delivery in orbit, at a very competitive price, made possible by our superior staged combustion technology, our industrial automation and our low cost structure.