While it's only Earth's orbit, and not yet infinite expanses, that's becoming increasingly attractive for commercial use, more and more satellites are populating space. The problem is the cost of transporting the payloads. NASA, for example, states that it costs approximately $10,000 to catapult 1 pound of payload into orbit. Startups like SpaceX and Isar Aerospace want to reduce these costs and thus simplify the exploration of space.
With the opening of its first production hall, Isar Aerospace has now taken a step closer to this goal. The startup focuses on small launch vehicles that, thanks to efficient electric propulsion and the miniaturization of space components, can transport modern small satellites weighing up to 500 kilograms. Lower production costs for the rockets should make it possible to cost-effectively launch entire swarms of satellites into Earth's orbit. Furthermore, rockets designed for payloads of up to 1,000 kg are currently in short supply, explains Daniel Metzler, co-founder of the startup.
Isar Aerospace fills a market gap
The idea for the new rocket originated in 2017 in the workshops of the TUM student group WARR (Scientific Association for Rocketry and Astronautics). Metzler and his team had developed a small engine for a research rocket. In response to a film about the project, which the students had published online, they received numerous inquiries from industry. Daniel Metzler explains further:
"We knew we had found a gap in the market and decided to build our own rocket – tailor-made for transporting small satellites. The idea was to further develop our propulsion technology: Until now, the first and second stages of launch vehicles in Europe have been equipped with different engines. We, on the other hand, wanted to use clusters of identical engines: This would allow us to save considerable development and production costs."
In early 2018, Josef Fleischmann, Markus Brandl, and Daniel Metzler – all three studied aerospace engineering at TUM – founded their startup Isar Aerospace. They received support from TUM. The founders participated in the "Xpreneurs" program of UnternehmerTUM, the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at TUM. The first prototypes of the engine components were created in the high-tech workshop MakerSpace in Garching. Start-up capital UnternehmerTUM Venture Capital Partners and Vito Ventures, former SpaceX Senior Executive David Giger and Global Space Ventures founder Bulent Altan invested. In a Series A At the end of 2019, Isar Aerospace raised an additional $17 million from its existing investors as well as Earlybird, Airbus Ventures, and Apeiron Investment Group. The startup was also supported by ESA Business Incubation Center in Oberpfaffenhofen.
Customer interest worth several hundred million euros
The production halls were now opened in the presence of Minister President Markus Söder and TUM President Thomas F. Hofmann. The 27-meter-long rocket with a diameter of two meters is being assembled on an area of 4,500 square meters in Ottobrunn, not far from the Ludwig Bölkow Campus, where the TUM Department of Aeronautics, Astronautics and Geodesy is headquartered.
According to Metzler, there is already customer interest worth several hundred million euros, mostly from Europe. The first transport rocket, loaded with small satellites, is scheduled to launch into orbit in 2021. If all goes according to plan, series production can begin immediately thereafter: Isar Aerospace plans to build 20 rockets per year.
