science

Rocket Factory Augsburg

Rocket Factory Augsburg is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Rocket Factory Augsburg rather than just read about it. In short: 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".

Key takeaways

Rocket Factory Augsburg belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Rocket Factory Augsburg to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Rocket Factory Augsburg from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

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. As of November 2023, it had been scheduled to launch during the summer of 2024; however, an anomaly during a first stage static fire test in August 2024 resulted in destruction of the stage, and the launch has been postponed.

History

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 relocated to a new headquarters facility in Augsburg. The company employs more than 300 people from more than 45 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. Testing of the assembled RFA One vehicle began in August 2021 with cryogenic pressure testing on a prototype first stage, and hot fire tests of the Helix rocket engine began in July 2022, with an integrated stage+engine system test of 280 seconds duration in March 2023. By May 2024, a hot fire test with five Helix engines was performed at SaxaVord Spaceport. On Monday, 19 August 2024, a static fire test of the RFA One first stage with all nine engines, the same hardware that was slated to fly on the maiden flight of RFA One, was performed. An anomaly occurred that resulted in a fire, subsequent explosion, loss of the stage, and significant damage to the launch mount. Ground testing of a new RFA One launch vehicle is slated for 2025, and 2025 is also the revised estimate for an initial orbital launch attempt. On 7 July 2025, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced that it had preselected Rocket Factory Augsburg as one of the five candidates for the European Launcher Challenge.

Locations RFA is headquartered in Augsburg, close to Munich, with composite material manufacturing in Portugal, test facilities in Sweden and Scotland, and a launch facility in Scotland. Since March 2021, the main factory and offices have been located at Berliner Allee 65, Augsburg. The company has a team based at the rocket engine development and test site Esrange in Kiruna, Sweden. Since June 2021 RFA has had a Portuguese subsidiary, "RFA Portugal Unipessoal LDA," located in Matosinhos, to develop and qualify composite structures for RFA One.

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 is planned to 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 to be Europe's first-ever launch delivering a satellite into orbit. After a static fire test anomaly in August 2024, the company anticipates its initial launch in 2025, following extensive testing and assembly in Augsburg and on-site preparation.

Projects

RFA One launch vehicle

Rocket Factory Augsburg's first launch vehicle is RFA One, a three-stage rocket designed to launch small satellites and payloads of up to 1,300 kg into polar orbits. The vehicle is 30 m (98 ft) long with a diameter of 2 m (6 ft 7 in). It has been in development since 2019. The vehicle is designed to transport small and micro-satellites into Low Earth orbit (LEO) and Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). The first stage is powered by nine Helix engines, each producing 100 kN of thrust. The second stage will use one engine, 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 stage, named Redshift, will function as an orbital transfer vehicle (OTV). Since its Fenix engine can be fired multiple times, it is able to reach different orbits within a single flight and complete different missions for different customers. It will use a non-hydrazine based, relightable green propellant.

Argo cargo spacecraft In 2023, RFA unveiled the plans for manufacturing a space station cargo vehicle, named Argo. It is 3.7 m in diameter and 7.7 m long, has a dry mass of 5200 kg, and is supposed to carry up to 15.5 cubic meters and 4,000 kg of cargo. The capsule is equipped with an Inflatable Atmospheric Decelerator (IAD) on its back end, provided by Atmos Space Cargo, allowing the entire vehicle to return to Earth. Propulsion is provided by two Fenix engines used on Redshift, and 24 RCS thrusters, while power is provided by four solar panels. Argo's first demo mission is planned for 2028.

PROTEIN heavy lifter study In 2023, RFA participated in ESA's PROTEIN study, calling for the creation of a concept of a heavy lift launch vehicle capable of carrying up to 10,000 tons of cargo to low-Earth orbit per year, while not exceeding a recurring cost of €280/kg payload to orbit. RFA's concept was 7m in diameter and between 130 and 140m in length (depending on the presence or absence of a third stage), utilizing methalox engines for its 1st stage and hydrolox engines for its second stage, with both stages landing vertically.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Rocket Factory Augsburg

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Rocket Factory Augsburg claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Rocket Factory Augsburg before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Rocket Factory Augsburg ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Rocket Factory Augsburg

In research: Rocket Factory Augsburg appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Rocket Factory Augsburg in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Rocket Factory Augsburg is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Aerospace companies of Germany, Companies based in Augsburg, German companies established in 2018, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Rocket Factory Augsburg outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Rocket Factory Augsburg in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Rocket Factory Augsburg means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Rocket Factory Augsburg out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Rocket Factory Augsburg in simple terms?

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".

Why does Rocket Factory Augsburg matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Rocket Factory Augsburg?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Rocket Factory Augsburg.