The Series B round is the largest financing ever completed by a European space technology company, according to Isar Aerospace. The investment was led by Lakestar, with participation from existing investors UVC Partners, Earlybird, and Vsquared Ventures. New investors include HV Capital, economics professor Ann-Kristin Achleitner, and her husband, bank manager Paul Achleitner.
The startup focuses on small launch vehicles that 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. According to the company, customer inquiries totaling more than half a billion dollars have already been received. Daniel Metzler, CEO of Isar Aerospace, says:
"We are now fully funded until the maiden flight of our launch vehicle and can fully concentrate on the final development steps and upcoming tests. In other words: nothing stands in the way of the first successful German launch of a spacecraft into Earth orbit."
Isar Aerospace aims to offer affordable access to space
Satellite manufacturers, communications companies, car manufacturers, and even government organizations around the world need access to space, says Metzler. The bottleneck is often the expensive and inflexible launch into space. His company will offer an affordable and flexible solution for this.
Only in September, in the presence of the Bavarian Minister President Markus Söder and TUM President Thomas F. Hofmann, a rocket production hall was opened in Ottobrunn near Munich – in the direct vicinity of the Ludwig Bölkow Campus, where the TUM Department of Aeronautics, Astronautics and Geodesy has its headquarters.
