German space startup Isar Aerospace said Wednesday it had secured 150 million euros ($174 million) in funding from a US investment firm, several months after its first test flight of an orbital rocket.
Miami-headquartered fund Eldridge Industries had signed an agreement to provide the cash through a bond, said the German firm which specialises in satellite launch services.
Isar Aerospace said the cash injection would help it “expand its flexible and cost-efficient launch service offerings for its global clientele”.
It would also strengthen “European sovereign access to space,” according to a statement from the firm headquartered near the southern city of Munich.
A company spokeswoman told AFP that its order books were full until the end of 2026, and it was currently marketing launches from 2027 to 2031.
In March Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum became the first orbital rocket to be launched from continental Europe, in a closely watched test for the region’s bid to build a new space economy.
The rocket crashed seconds after blast-off from a Norwegian spaceport but the startup nevertheless hailed it as “great success”, stressing it had not been expected to reach orbit on the first try.
Founded in 2018, Isar Aerospace is among companies vying to shake up Europe’s commercial space sector, and had already raised substantial sums from venture capital firms.
While the United Space already has giants such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos-founded Blue Origin, in Europe “New Space” firms trying to develop lower cost rockets are still in their infancy.
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© Agence France-Presse
