The German Space Agency at DLR launched its microlauncher competition on 15 May 2020. The competition offered a total of 25 million euros in funding to German start-ups looking to develop and commercially operate microlaunchers. A maximum of five companies were able to participate, of which two winners were selected by a jury of experts during the two-year period. Anna Christmann (MdB), the Federal Government Coordinator of German Aerospace Policy, took over the chairmanship of the jury from Thomas Jarzombek in 2022.
Two winners in total received funding for the final qualification phase of their launch system, including the execution of two demonstration flights each, scheduled for the period 2022 to 2024. The aim of the competition is to promote the development of a commercial and cost-effective access to space as well as long-term sustainable business models in the microlauncher sector.
Microlauncher competition: 25 million euros in funding for new carrier systems
German start-up companies offering launch services from Earth to space (Earth to Orbit) using a self-developed microlauncher were eligible to enter the competition. A further condition for participation was the willingness to enable the free-of-charge flight of payloads selected by the German Space Agency at DLR, each with a maximum total payload mass of 150 kilograms, on the funded qualification flights. In addition, the conditions for the ESA C-STS programme applied. The application deadline was 20 June 2020.
The microlauncher competition supports German start-ups that want to commercially develop and offer launch services into space.
The DLR microlauncher competition
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The DLR microlauncher competition
The microlauncher competition supports German start-ups that want to commercially develop and offer launch services into space.
The microlauncher competition was divided into three phases: In the preliminary round (phase 1 in 2020), three participating start-ups (HyImpulse Technologies GmbH, Isar Aerospace Technologies GmbH and Rocket Factory Augsburg AG) were selected, each of which received 500,000 euros in funding. In the first main round (phase 2 in 2021), Isar Aerospace Technologies GmbH emerged as the winner and received funding of 11 million euros. Rocket Factory Augsburg AG achieved the highest rating in phase 3 of the competition in 2022, thereby also securing the same level of funding.
The funding comes from the European Space Agency's C-STS programme. Technical, economic and operational evaluation criteria were decisive for the selection of the teams in all three competition phases. The selected companies received a letter of support from the German Space Agency at DLR, which was required for the offers to the ESA. The funding from ESA is provided by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), which was signed at the ESA Council Meeting at Ministerial Level Space19+ in Seville in November 2019.
