First contracts kick off European Launcher Challenge

The first European Launcher Challenge contracts between the European Space Agency (ESA) and launch service providers have been signed. The European Launcher Challenge is ESA’s initiative to expand European launch service supply and ensure more robustness in Europe’s access to space.

The contracts allow the Challengers to secure and unlock funds as milestones are met. Each proposal was reviewed by a European Space Agency evaluation board, looking into the companies’ financial and technical proposals and progress.

The challengers

Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), based in Germany, is developing their RFA One orbital vehicle with three stages that is set to launch from a SaxaVord launch pad in the UK. At about 30 m tall and 2.15 m in diameter, the RFA One rocket in its current configuration targets a deployment capability of up to 500 kg to a 500 km sun-synchronous orbit. The RFA contract amounts to €186.9 million and is mainly funded by Germany with a contribution by the UK.

Spanish company PLD Space flew its Miura 1 technology demonstrator rocket from Spain in 2023, using it as a foundation for the development of the Miura 5 launcher and associated infrastructure. Miura 5 will be launched from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana and is designed to deliver payloads of up to 540 kg to a sun-synchronous orbit. PLD Space plans to develop upgraded capabilities for Miura 5 to serve institutional and commercial missions requiring greater payload capacity and orbital reach. The PLD Space contract amounts to €158.9 million and is mainly funded by Spain with a contribution by Germany.

Isar Aerospace, based in Germany, is developing their Spectrum launcher that first flew in 2025 for 30 seconds from its dedicated launch pad at Andøya Spaceport in Norway. The two-stage launch vehicle Spectrum is 28 m tall, 2 m in diameter and, with ten engines in its current configuration, is targeting to launch payloads of up to 1000 kg to low Earth orbit. Their second Spectrum vehicle is getting ready to launch at Andøya spaceport including the payloads they aim to launch into orbit on the qualification flight. The Isar Aerospace contract amounts to €197.8 million and is mainly funded by Germany with contributions by Austria and Norway.

The contract award process with MaiaSpace is nearing completion and expected to resume in the coming weeks. ESA will provide a further update once the contract has been concluded.

To orbit!

The contracts conclude the second stage of the Challenge whereby shortlisted companies could submit their proposals before April 2026. The proposals were evaluated by an ESA tender evaluation board focusing on criteria including business case, engineering quality, resources, schedule and compliance.

The European Launcher Challenge first requires the launch service providers achieve an orbital launch before 2028 to demonstrate their capacity to deliver.

“This milestone kicks off the European Launcher Challenge, encouraging competition among European launch providers,” says ESA’s Director of Space Transportation Géraldine Naja. “Through this funding, ESA is supporting the development of European launch capabilities, helping to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and broaden the range of launch services available to institutional and commercial customers.”

“With these contracts, ESA is turning ambition into action. ESA has set the Challenge and created the conditions for new European launch providers to accelerate their ramp-ups and grow,” says ESA’s head of strategy and launches for Space Transportation Lucia Linares, “Now it is up to the challengers to prove they can deliver reliable launch services for Europe and compete: getting to space is not easy and never guaranteed.”