Rocket Factory Augsburg

Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) is a German NewSpace start-up located in Augsburg. It was founded in 2018 with the mission to build rockets just like cars. Its multistage rocket, RFA One, is currently under development and scheduled to launch in the summer of 2024.

General
Rocket Factory Augsburg was founded as a spin-off of OHB SE in 2018 by Jörn Spurmann (CCO of RFA), Stefan Brieschenk (COO of RFA), Hans Steiniger (CEO of MT Aerospace) and Marco Fuchs (CEO of OHB SE). As of 2021, Spurmann, Brieschenk, Steiniger, Fuchs, Stefan Tweraser (CEO of RFA), and Jean-Jacques Dordain (Chairman) made up the board of RFA. OHB SE and Apollo Capital Partners GmbH are investors.

In March 2021 RFA moved to a new headquarters facility in Augsburg. The company employs more than 300 people from more than 30 countries.

In April 2022 RFA won the second round of the "DLR microlauncher competition". As part of this contract RFA will launch 150 kg for the German Aerospace Center (DLR) aboard each of the first two RFA One flights. RFA will also receive €11 million to further the development of its launch vehicle.

Locations
RFA is based in Augsburg, close to Munich. Since March 2021, the main factory and offices have been located at Berliner Allee 65, Augsburg. The company has a team based at the development and test site Esrange in Kiruna, Sweden. Since June 2021 RFA also has a Portuguese subsidiary, "RFA Portugal Unipessoal LDA," located in Matosinhos. It develops and qualifies composite structures for RFA ONE in collaboration with the technology center CEiiA. In January 2023, RFA announced that it had secured exclusive access to Launch Pad Fredo at the SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland. The company said that the multi-year partnership included a "double-digit million pound investment" in SaxaVord by RFA. The company will use the facility to launch RFA ONE launch vehicle to polar and Sun-synchronous orbits. The maiden flight of the RFA ONE will also be launched from SaxaVord.

On 29 January 2024, RFA announced plans to launch rockets monthly from SaxaVord Spaceport on Unst in the Shetland Islands, aiming for Europe's first-ever satellite delivery into orbit. The company anticipates its initial launch in the summer of 2024, following extensive testing and assembly in Augsburg and on-site preparation.

Launch vehicle
RFA One is a three-stage launch vehicle designed to launch small satellites and payloads of up to 1,300 kg into polar orbits. The vehicle is 30m long with a diameter of 2m. It is currently in development and set to launch on a first flight in the summer of 2024. The vehicle is designed to transport small and micro-satellites into Low Earth orbit (LEO) and Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).

Technology
The first stage is powered by nine Helix engines, each producing 100kN of thrust. The second stage will use a vacuum-optimised version of the Helix engine. The Helix engine uses rocket grade kerosene, known as RP-1, fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. During 2020 the company redesigned Helix from a gas-generator cycle to an oxygen-rich staged combustion cycle. Some components used in early engine versions, such as the turbopump, were bought from the Ukrainian company Pivdenmash to shorten development time. Later versions of these components have been developed internally.

The third (or "orbital") stage, named Redshift, will function as an orbital transfer vehicle (OTV). Since its Fenix engine can be fired repeatedly, it is able to reach different orbits within one flight and complete different missions for different customers. It will use a non-hydrazine based, relightable green propellant.

Production and tests
The rocket is designed for serial production and is aiming to use a large number of COTS components to reduce production and launch costs. Central components of the engines of the first two stages are to be 3D printed.

The company stated that they would like to recover and reuse the first stage on later flights; but there is no public concept yet released for this. Official information on re-usability has not yet been shared by RFA. RFA was the first European company to develop and successfully tested a Staged Combustion Engine, when it conducted an 8 second test in July, 2021. During this test the engine reached a thermal steady-state.

In August 2021 RFA performed a cryogenic pressure test on a prototype first stage, during which the prototype burst. Three hot fire tests for performed with the Helix rocket engine with a total duration of 74 seconds in July 2022. The second stage was approved for flight operations in May 2023 through the integrated system test with 280 seconds of hot fire.

In April 2024, RFA reported successful installation of five of nine Helix engines onto RFA ONE's first stage in preparation for transport to SaxaVord Spaceport for hot-fire stage testing.

The RFA One arrived in SaxaVord Spaceport in May and successfully preformed its first static fire test that same month.