Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), founded in 2018, is a German NewSpace company focused on providing affordable and flexible launch services for small satellites. As a launch provider, RFA is currently developing its RFA One rocket, designed for low-Earth orbit missions and aiming to reduce launch costs by using standard industrial components and efficient production technologies. RFA's partners include companies like Conflux Technology and launch sites such as SaxaVord Spaceport, with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) as a customer. Key activities include rocket development, engine testing, and securing launch facilities to offer comprehensive space deployment services.
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Rocket Factory Augsburg is developing an optional kick stage called Redshift that can be configured for a wide range of applications.
Rocket Factory Augsburg is commissioning its launch pad at SaxaVord Spaceport on the island of Unst off the northern coast of Scotland.
Rocket Factory Augsburg expects, assuming a successful first flight, to achieve an initial launch cadence of up to four flights per year over the following two years.
Rocket Factory Augsburg is working to improve the performance of the RFA ONE rocket in parallel with preparations for the inaugural flight.
Indulis Kalnins replaced Dr. Stefan Tweraser as Rocket Factory Augsburg CEO in April 2025.
Over the last 18 months Rocket Factory Augsburg has manufactured a replacement for the destroyed RFA ONE first stage and upgraded the vehicle’s upper stage.
Rocket Factory Augsburg has begun commissioning the repaired and upgraded launch pad at SaxaVord Spaceport.
On 10 February Rocket Factory Augsburg raised a new 52-metre-high umbilical tower at SaxaVord Spaceport.
Rocket Factory Augsburg is transporting the replacement RFA ONE first stage from Augsburg in Germany to the launch site on Unst.
On February 2, 2026 U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivered a policy address at Blue Origin’s Rocket Factory in Merritt Island, Florida that marked an expansion of the Department of Defense’s acquisition reforms into the space domain.
CNES preselected Avio, HyImpulse, Isar Aerospace, MaiaSpace, PLD Space, Rocket Factory Augsburg, and Latitude in July 2022 for allocation at the ELM facility.
Binding Term Sheets were signed by Isar Aerospace, PLD Space, Rocket Factory Augsburg, MaiaSpace, and Latitude to formalize their allocation at the future ELM site.
Launches for the Flight Ticket initiative will use the RFA One rocket from the German company Rocket Factory Augsburg.
Rocket Factory Augsburg has been selected to launch four institutionally contracted missions aboard its RFA One rocket.
In early 2024, ESA and the European Union pre-selected Arianespace, Isar Aerospace, PLD Space, Orbex, and Rocket Factory Augsburg to form the initiative’s pool of launch service providers.
Rocket Factory Augsburg is contracted to launch two payloads of up to 150 kilograms, selected by the German government, across two flights.
On 22 January, ESA announced that Rocket Factory Augsburg had been awarded a Flight Ticket Initiative contract for launch services for two missions comprising a total of three satellites.
Rocket Factory Augsburg has been awarded launch service contracts for two missions under the Flight Ticket Initiative.
Rocket Factory Augsburg received €11 million as one of the two winners of the Microlauncher Competition’s second and final round.
Indulis Kalnins became CEO of Rocket Factory Augsburg in April and is a former executive of OHB, which owns a majority stake in RFA.