German launch startup Isar Aerospace has closed a €155M ($167.3M) Series C funding round. The company has now raised over €300M ($323.9M) and is fully funded up to and beyond its first flight. With this latest round of funding, Isar cements its position as the most well-funded European launch startup. The next most successful is […]
This week, Spain’s Council of Ministers voted to approve a statute green-lightning the country’s new space agency to formally begin operations. The vote is “a determined commitment by the Government of Spain for a sector that is key, that generates opportunities, that generates quality employment, and we endow it with an initial budget of more […]
Ukraine’s space agency has questioned the findings of an independent inquiry formed to investigate the failure of a Vega C launch vehicle last December. The failure resulted in the loss of two Airbus Pléiades Neo Earth observation satellites. The independent inquiry’s findings Following a successful first stage separation and second stage ignition, a progressive decrease […]
The European launch industry is going through changes. Ariane 5 is set to be retired in a few months and launch startups are racing to debut the continent’s newest vehicles. The first two months of 2023 offer a glimpse into what could very well be a bustling year for the industry. January French launch startup […]
Today in Europe, there are no fewer than 13 companies developing or operating orbital transfer vehicles, known in short as OTVs or more colloquially as space tugs. Around the world, we assess that there are likely north of 100 companies that are keen to grab a slice of the space tug market. With healthy competition […]
The Exploration Company has closed a €40.5M Series A. The round follows a €5.3M seed round, closed in November 2021. The Franco-German startup is developing a reusable space capsule, Nyx, that will fly science missions, resupply space stations, and, with any luck, eventually, take crews to and from orbit. The vehicle is designed to carry […]
French launch startup Latitude has completed the first hot fire test campaign of its Navier engine. The engine will power the company’s two-stage Zephyr launch vehicle. Zephyr is designed to be capable of deploying 100 kg payloads to SSO at an altitude of 700 km. The vehicle’s first stage features nine Navier engines and the […]
German launch startup Isar Aerospace has signed its first US customer, winning a multi-launch contract from Spaceflight, Inc. The deal will see Isar launch a single dedicated Spectrum flight from Norway’s Andøya Spaceport in 2026. There is also a provision for a second Spectrum flight in 2025. “We’ve seen an increased demand for flexible and […]
Swiss-based startup ClearSpace has closed a €26.7M ($28.9M) Series A. The in-orbit servicing and active space debris removal startup will use the funding to accelerate its progress towards missions on the horizon. “The market is now developing, much faster than we had expected, and we look forward to accelerating our activities to meet the urgent […]
The Swedish Space Corporation completed the inauguration of its Esrange orbital launch facility today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The ceremony was attended by Swedish and European dignitaries, including the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf; President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen; and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. The trio concluded the short […]
The first operational flight of the Vega C rocket has ended in failure, resulting in the loss of a pair of Airbus Pléiades Neo imaging satellites. What happened? The rocket lifted off at 8:47pm ET from Kourou. The flight started off well, with the first stage completing its leg of the mission and separating successfully. […]
Arianespace successfully launched its third Ariane 5 flight of 2022 yesterday from French Guiana. The nearly 11-ton customer payload was the second heaviest lift for an Ariane 5, topped only by an Oct. 2021 launch that carried the Syracuse A4 and SES-17 into orbit. There were three primary payloads on board. All three satellites were […]
