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TOKYO — The European Space Agency has selected five launch vehicle startups to proceed to the next phase of a competition where they could receive contracts for satellite launches and development of upgraded vehicles.
ESA said July 7 that Isar Aerospace, MaiaSpace, Orbex, PLD Space and Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) were “preselected challengers” for the European Launcher Challenge. Each company will be eligible for up to 169 million euros ($198 million) in contracts for launching institutional payloads and/or development and demonstration of upgraded vehicles.
That funding will be dependent on decisions made by ESA member states at its ministerial conference in late November in Bremen, Germany, where countries will decide what programs to subscribe to and at what funding levels for the next three years.
ESA adopted an alternative to its georeturn policy for this competition, first selecting eligible companies and then asking countries to contribute, rather than having countries first make contributions and then receive contracts in proportion to their contributions.
In the statement, ESA said it picked the five companies based on “technical maturity, business maturity and sustainability, institutional market planned to be served as well as compliance to procurement rules.” ESA officials last month said that the agency received 12 proposals for the competition.
None of the five companies selected has yet to reach orbit with their vehicles, and only Isar has attempted an orbital launch. The first flight of its Spectrum rocket from Norway in March suffered a loss of attitude control about half a minute after liftoff, and the vehicle fell back in waters adjacent to the launch pad.
Of the others, PLD Space performed a successful suborbital flight of its Miura 1 rocket, a precursor to its Miura 5 orbital launch vehicle, in October 2023. RFA was working towards a first launch of its RFA ONE rocket when the first stage intended for that launch was destroyed during a static-fire test in August 2024.
In a social media post, RFA said it proposed both to launch ESA payloads on the current version of RFA ONE as well as develop an upgraded Block 2 version with increased payload capacity. “This is a major milestone for us – and a strong vote of confidence in our technical roadmap, commercial strength, and long-term vision,” the company stated.
PLD Space said in a statement that its proposal “perfectly aligns” with the plans the company announced last October to develop a family of larger launch vehicles called Miura Next. It would also, the Spanish company said, give Spain a foothold in a European launch sector traditionally dominated by France, Germany and Italy.
“Our project directly impacts the entire value chain, mobilizes cutting-edge technology, and places Spain at the center of Europe’s future access to space,” said Ezequiel Sánchez, executive president of PLD Space.
Orbex did not disclose details about its proposal, but the company has discussed plans to both continue development of its Prime small launch vehicle, whose debut has now slipped to 2026, as well as a larger vehicle called Proxima.
“For Orbex, it’s a major opportunity to accelerate launch vehicle development and play a central role in shaping Europe’s future in space,” Phil Chambers, chief executive of Orbex, said in a company statement.
Neither Isar Aerospace nor MaiaSpace discussed their proposals for the competition, although Isar acknowledged its selection in a social media post. “With this initiative, ESA is taking decisive steps towards commercialization and expansion of launch services, which are essential for ensuring sovereignty in space,” the company stated.
ESA did not disclose what companies submitted proposals but were not selected. Among them is Latitude, a French company developing the Zephyr small launch vehicle, with a first launch planned for as soon as the third quarter of 2026. The company said it submitted a proposal that included upgrading the payload performance of Zephyr from 200 to 300 kilograms.
However, the company was skeptical of the value of the European Launcher Challenge. “It’s a pretty weird program,” said Stanislas Maximin, executive chairman of Latitude, in an interview during the Paris Air Show last month, arguing it appeared aimed at helping companies already far along in development and private fundraising.
“In my opinion, it will be used by some countries to subsidize companies that don’t need subsidizing, like MaiaSpace or Isar,” he said. “That doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
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