German space agency DLR has awarded an €18 million launch contract to Berlin-based Exolaunch. DLR awarded the contract on behalf of and with funds from the German Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection, and it will see the mission management startup oversee the launch of payloads from winners of the country’s Small Satellite and Small Satellite Payload Competitions.
The Small Satellite Competition was launched on 3 July 2023 with the aim of offering free launch services to companies and educational and research institutions that were headquartered in the European Union. The Small Satellite Payload Competition was launched on 25 July 2023 and aimed to offer not only free launch services but also a commercially available small satellite platform for winning payload proposals.
The winners for both were announced on 23 November. OroraTech, TALOS, Planetary Transportation Systems, Rapid Cubes, and Vyoma each won free launch services for their respective small satellites. Marble Imaging, Berlin Space Consortium, High Performance Space Structure Systems, InSpacePropulsion Technologies, Airbus Defense and Space, Quantum Galactics, and Industrieanlagen-betriebsgesellschaft each won a small commercially available satellite platform and free launch services.
“We see the competitions as a catalyst for the commercialization of space activities in Germany and Europe,” says Dr. Walther Pelzer, Director General of the German Space Agency at DLR.
The €18 million contract awarded to Exolaunch covers a broad range of activities the company will need to complete. It will need to procure launch services aboard European microlaunchers, coordinate the launch campaigns, procure small satellites, and provision the relevant technical guidelines and peripherals for the satellite and payload manufacturers. It will also be required to oversee compatibility analysis, testing, qualification, and manufacturing.
