# Rocket Factory Augsburg — Mass-producible orbital rockets for small satellites.

Rocket Factory Augsburg builds RFA One, a three-stage orbital launch vehicle for small satellites, applying car-style serial manufacturing to offer low-cost, flexible access to orbit from European spaceports.

Founded

2018

Headquarters

Augsburg, Germany

Category

Space, Hardware, Defense

Legal name

Rocket Factory Augsburg AG

## Highlights

Notable milestones from Rocket Factory Augsburg’s journey — funding rounds, launches, and other moments worth knowing.

Milestone - Mar 2026

### RFA One comes together at SaxaVord for its maiden flight

RFA shipped its stages to Shetland and integrated the full RFA One stack in the SaxaVord assembly hangar, closing in on a long-delayed first orbital attempt that would mark the UK's first vertical launch to orbit.

**The full RFA One stack in the SaxaVord integration hangar — German, EU and UK flags overhead.**

[Source](https://www.rfa.space/about/)

Funding - Nov 2025

### Germany commits €180.5M under the Launcher Challenge

At ESA's November 2025 ministerial, member states subscribed over €900M to the European Launcher Challenge, with Germany pledging €180.5M to RFA One — anchoring the company's path to a first flight and recurring institutional launches.

Round

ESA / Government

Raised

$195M

Led by

European Space Agency

[Source](https://europeanspaceflight.com/over-e900-million-committed-to-european-launcher-challenge/)

Recognition - Jul 2025

### Picked as one of five for ESA's European Launcher Challenge

ESA shortlisted RFA alongside Isar Aerospace, MaiaSpace, Orbex and PLD Space to compete for institutional launch contracts and funding — Europe's bid to seed a commercial alternative to Ariane and cut reliance on foreign rockets.

[Source](https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/esa-selects-5-rocket-companies-for-european-launcher-challenge)

Milestone - Aug 2024

### First stage lost in a static-fire explosion at SaxaVord

During a full nine-engine static fire on 19 August 2024, an anomaly in one Helix engine triggered a fire and explosion that destroyed the first stage and damaged the launch mount. No one was hurt, but the loss pushed RFA's maiden flight back by years.

[Source](https://spacenews.com/rfa-first-stage-destroyed-in-static-fire-test/)

Milestone - May 2024

### Fires up the RFA One first stage on the SaxaVord pad

RFA hot-fired the RFA One first stage at SaxaVord — an integrated stage-and-engine firing on the British pad that cleared a key step toward what would have been the UK's first vertical orbital launch.

**The RFA One first stage on the SaxaVord test stand during a 2024 hot-fire campaign.**

[Source](https://orbitaltoday.com/2024/05/24/rfa-fires-up-saxavord-nearing-first-vertical-orbital-launch/)

Funding - Aug 2023

### €30M convertible bond from KKR

Global investment firm KKR put €30M into RFA through a convertible bond, becoming a lead investor alongside OHB. The money funded the integrated first-stage test campaign and finished the launch pad at SaxaVord.

Round

Convertible Bond

Raised

$33M

Led by

KKR

[Source](https://www.rfa.space/rfa-secures-30m-investment-from-kkr/)

Expansion - Jan 2023

### Locks in an exclusive launch pad at SaxaVord in Shetland

RFA secured exclusive access to a pad at the UK's SaxaVord Spaceport on the Shetland island of Unst, with a double-digit-million investment — picking a high-latitude site ideal for the polar and sun-synchronous orbits its small-satellite customers fly.

**RFA's pad at SaxaVord, on the cliffs of Unst at the northern tip of the UK, built for polar launches.**

[Source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_Factory_Augsburg)

Recognition - Apr 2022

### Wins round two of Germany's microlauncher competition

DLR's German Space Agency awarded RFA €11M and signed the German government as anchor customer for RFA One's first two flights — institutional backing that validated the privately financed launcher against its domestic rivals.

Team - Aug 2018

### Spun out of OHB to build rockets like cars

Jörn Spurmann and Stefan Brieschenk founded RFA as a spin-off of the German space group OHB, betting that car-style serial manufacturing — buying parts in, building cheaply and at volume — could undercut traditional launchers and give Europe its own low-cost route to orbit.

**The Augsburg team behind RFA One — the microlauncher RFA set out to mass-produce like cars.**

[Source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_Factory_Augsburg)