Status: 03/28/2023 2:16 p.m
The German rocket manufacturer Isar Aerospace has raised 155 million euros in a new round of financing. Porsche SE will be there again.
The Munich-based rocket manufacturer Isar Aerospace has received another capital injection from Porsche SE in a financing round. The Volkswagen parent company and other investors have made a total of 155 million euros available, the company said.
Isar Aerospace is currently valued higher than in the previous round of financing in 2021, explained CFO David Kownator, without naming a sum. With a total of more than 310 million euros raised from investors, the rocket builder sees itself as the most financially independent new space company in the European Union. According to earlier information, Porsche holds a low single-digit percentage share in the start-up.
First flight planned for the second half of the year
Isar Aerospace is planning the maiden flight of its “Spectrum” carrier rocket for the second half of the year, which is intended to take small and medium-sized satellites into space from Andoya in Norway. “Global demand for launch capacity for small and medium-sized satellites is increasing rapidly, and Isar Aerospace’s order book is already well filled,” the company said.
Rocket manufacturing boom
Areas of application for commercial, institutional and government customers are earth observation, telecommunications, agriculture, disaster management, transportation, environmental protection, scientific research and defense. Customers include the US aerospace company Spaceflight.
In fact, the huge demand for satellites for communication and mobility networks in Germany has given rise to an entire industry with over 100 start-ups, around half of which are involved in rocket manufacturing. Experts expect that thousands of satellites will be launched into space over the next few years, most of them small satellites weighing between one and ten kilograms.