RFA and DLR sign contract for Helix engine test site in Germany

RFA to build and operate its own engine test stand on DLR premises in Lampoldshausen

November 16, 2022

BREMEN – Nov. 16, 2022 – Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) announced at SPACE TECH EXPO EUROPE in Bremen that RFA will build and operate its own test stand at the DLR site in Lampoldshausen, Germany. There, RFA will test its Helix engine starting in mid-2023 to bring the European Union’s first staged-combustion engine to serial production maturity.

According to this agreement, RFA will lease and use the P2.4 test site. While DLR provides the basic infrastructure and the test operation takes place within the framework of the site regulation, RFA brings its own test stand and supporting infrastructure. Overall, investments in the single-digit million range are planned. This gives RFA the opportunity to test and operate its Helix engine in Germany for the first time. Until now, test stands in Lampoldshausen were only used by DLR, ESA and ArianeGroup. RFA is thus one of the first NewSpace companies to be given this opportunity. So far, testing of the Helix engine has only been carried out in Esrange, Sweden, at the Swedish Space Cooperation (SSC). Operations at this site will continue.

“Less than a week before the ESA Ministerial Council, this collaboration is a clear RFA location commitment to Germany and sends a strong signal to policy makers and the industry,” said Jörn Spurmann, Chief Commercial Officer at RFA. “The setup created with DLR is commercially very competitive on a worldwide scale and the right way to ensure the competitiveness of the German space industry in Europe and the world. We are very proud to be able to test our Helix staged combustion engine – the first in the European Union – at DLR in Lampoldshausen and are honored by the trust placed in us as a New Space company.”

The opportunity to test in Germany not only simplifies logistics, but also bureaucracy, as approval procedures are known and export and import efforts are eliminated. It also deepens cooperation between DLR and RFA and enables synergies and an exchange of experience that benefits both sides.

“Start-ups are becoming increasingly important players in space as well. That’s why we are delighted with the trust that Rocket Factory Augsburg has placed in us as a New Space company. We also see this cooperation as an acknowledgement of the capabilities of the existing test infrastructure and as an investment in the future,” said Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla, Chair of the DLR Executive Board, at the signing of the contract. She added: “By validating promising advanced engine concepts, we are jointly laying the foundations of Europe’s commercial and cost-effective access to space.”

In the middle of 2022, RFA fired its Helix engine for the first time for a total duration of 74 seconds. A short initial test of four seconds was followed by two long-term tests of 30 and 40 seconds. The same Helix engine was ignited and shut down three times without the need to replace any components. This clears the way for the Integrated System Test (IST), in which a complete upper stage tank with a Helix engine is tested as a closed system for the duration of its flight.

About DLR Lampoldshausen

At its site in Lampoldshausen, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) hosts expertise that is unique within Europe for the development and operation of rocket engine test stands. Over the last 60 years, the Institute of Space Propulsion, which is based in Lampoldshausen and now employs approximately 340 members of staff, has developed into a key partner for the European space industry.

About Rocket Factory

Rocket Factory Augsburg was founded in 2018 with the vision to enable data generating business models in space to better monitor, protect and connect our planet Earth. Against this background, the company’s goal is to offer launch services of up to 1.300kg into low Earth orbits and beyond on a weekly basis at unmatched prices. With this, RFA wants to democratize access to space and reduce the launch costs in the space industry. The RFA ONE launch service combines three key competitive advantages: A customer focused service with precise in-orbit delivery and a high degree of mission flexibility through its orbital stage; at a highly competitive price; made possible by superior staged combustion technology, low-cost structures and usage of industrial components.

Press Contact:

Mr. Jonas Kellner

Telefon +49 821 999576-21

Email: jonas.kellner@rfa.space

Rocket Factory Augsburg AG

Berliner Allee 65

86153 Augsburg

Germany

Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Jean-Jacques Dordain

Board of Directors: Stefan Tweraser, Stefan Brieschenk, Jörn Spurmann

Seat of the company: Augsburg

Registry Court: AG Augsburg, HRB 34251