RFA ONE secures launch capability from South Australia
Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA), Europe's leading launch service provider, has entered into a partnership with Southern Launch, a South Australian rocket launch service provider. The partnership will enable the German launch vehicle RFA ONE to be launched from Southern Launch's launch sites, the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex in South Australia. Southern Launch's orbital complex enables direct ascent into Sun-synchronous and polar orbits.
The agreement will enable RFA to provide flexible, cost-effective and precise launch services with its RFA ONE from a regional spaceport in the Asia-Pacific region. This three-stage small rocket, with its highly efficient staged combustion engine and orbital stage, can carry up to 1,350 kg to a 300-km polar orbit. The rocket is 30 metres high and 2 metres wide and has reached important milestones in its development over the past year. RFA ONE is expected to launch up to fifty times a year in the future, delivering satellites to low-Earth orbit quickly and reliably - and at a highly competitive price.
The first meeting between RFA and Southern Launch took place at the International Astronautical Congress in Washington in 2019, and the two parties are now looking forward to finalising and signing an agreement on launch services at the Global Space and Technology Convention in Singapore.
Joern Spurmann, Chief Commercial Officer at RFA, says: "Launching from South Australia will allow us to offer our launch services in a very customer-focused way from a regional spaceport in the Asia-Pacific region. This is a key milestone in our strategy for a globally distributed launch capability. With multiple launch sites around the world, we minimise our customers' logistical and time constraints and create the infrastructural conditions for a weekly launch cadence. Southern Launch provides a comprehensive and competitive service for the launch of our rockets. We couldn't have asked for a better partner."
Lloyd Damp, Southern Launch's Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are pleased to announce this partnership with Rocket Factory Augsburg AG, whose RFA ONE launch vehicle will launch into space from Southern's launch sites in South Australia. This partnership is further evidence of Australia's world-class launch capabilities for the international space industry."
www.rfa.space