OLM Plans to Offer Commercial Launch Services from Sardinia

An Italian commercial launch logistics company has announced that it has received approval to conduct small-scale engine tests at the Salto di Quirra military installation on the island of Sardinia. The company hopes this testing will mark the first step toward being authorised to conduct commercial suborbital launches from the facility as early as 2026.

The Salto di Quirra facility played a key role in Italy’s early space ambitions, hosting sounding rocket launches as early as 1961. The site is also no stranger to commercial activity, with Italian rocket builder Avio using the facility to test solid rocket motors for its Vega launch vehicles.

In early November 2024, OLM announced that it had signed an agreement with the German student-led Elara Aerospace initiative to assist with the execution of the test and suborbital launch campaigns for the group’s Starlight rocket. Elara Aerospace was founded in 2024 with the aim of becoming the first student team to develop a methalox-powered rocket capable of going beyond the Kármán line.

In May 2025, OLM announced that it had secured authorisation from the Italian Air Force and Ministry of Defence to conduct initial propulsion tests of Starlight on the grounds of the Salto di Quirra facility. This testing is expected to continue throughout 2025, with the launch expected to follow in 2026. However, the OLM announcement does not clarify whether the company has yet received authorisation for the launch campaign or if this is a step that still needs to be taken.

The Starlight rocket is expected to stand at 10.5 metres tall, with a diameter of 450 millimetres and a mass of approximately 1,000 kilograms. It is powered by a methalox rocket engine capable of producing 28 kN of thrust. Starlight is designed to carry a payload of up to 50 kilograms to an altitude of around 130 kilometres. The booster will then be recovered, with the group stating that “parts” can be reused for the next launch.