German launch startup Rocket Factory Augsburg has secured exclusive access to Launch Pad Fredo at the SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland. The multi-year partnership included a “double-digit million pound investment” in SaxaVord by RFA.
RFA will utilize the pad to launch its RFA ONE launch vehicle to polar and sun-synchronous orbits. SaxaVord will also be the site of the maiden flight of the RFA ONE which is currently planned for the end of 2023.
RFA ONE is a 30-metre three-stage launch vehicle that is designed to be capable of delivering 1,350 kg payloads to low Earth orbit. The vehicle’s third stage is equipped with a reignitable orbital engine that allows the stage to deliver payloads into multiple orbits.
In addition to utilizing the facility for launch, RFA will also test and qualify RFA ONE core stages at SaxaVord. These tests are expected to begin in mid-2023 ahead of the vehicle’s maiden flight. RFA ONE second stages are being tested at the Esrange Space Center in Sweden.
According to RFA, “existing logistics and infrastructure, launch readiness, rapid implementation, and matching mentality” were key factors in the startup’s decision to launch from SaxaVord.
A pinch of hyperbole
The launch pad and launch stool that RFA will utilize were completed towards the end of 2022. A press release published by RFA and SaxaVord claims that it is the “first launch pad in mainland Europe.” Let’s examine this claim.
In a construction update published on December 16, SaxaVord stated that it had completed the first concrete base for a launch stool in early December seemingly indicating that the launch stool had not yet been completed. In contrast, The Swedish Space Corporation announced that it had completed construction of its multi-pad Esrange Space Center orbital launch facility on 22 December with the facility’s inauguration expected on 13 January. However, as far as I know, the facility has not yet built out the launch infrastructure for a particular launch vehicle on one of the facility’s two launch pads. So, SaxaVord’s claim may still hold up despite much of the launch infrastructure around the launch pad and stool still needing to be built out.
I do, however, think the claim is largely unnecessary. Until there’s a launch from the facility, the launchpad is just a lump of concrete and steel. RFA and SaxaVord will need to push forward to complete the development of the vehicle and ground infrastructure and complete a maiden launch before the likes of Orbex and Sutherland. If the latter makes it to orbit first, no one is going to remember which company first completed the construction of its launch pad.
Esrange looks unlikely to compete for that first orbital launch from mainland Europe considering the fact that no launch provider has yet committed to launching from the facility. Andøya in Norway is expected to host the maiden Isar Aerospace Spectrum flight in 2023. However, when considering the German launch startup’s current development and testing roadmap, I don’t see a maiden Spectrum flight occurring before mid to late 2024. As a result, all eyes are on the UK for the launch of the first vertically-launched flight from mainland Europe.
