The German Space Agency DLR is launching the second round of competition for a free flight of small satellites on microlaunchers developed and built in Germany. This marks the start of the application phase for the second flight of Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum rocket. This time, the competition is not only aimed at European institutions, but also at start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises.

Up to 150 kilograms will be launched on this flight as part of this program

This fly-along opportunity is suitable for small satellites that will carry out scientific or commercial missions or test new technologies in space. As with the first flight, the second flight of the Spectrum launch vehicle will launch a total mass of up to 150 kilograms. This will allow several small satellites to fly on this flight, as they each weigh only a small amount.

The selection of satellites will be carried out by DLR. The application deadline for this flight, which is scheduled to take place in 2023, is October 15, 2022. The winners will be announced by November 30, 2022.

Isar Aerospace hosts a Q&A Session

To provide the best service to its potential customers, Isar Aerospace is hosting a Q&A Session on July 20, 2022 at 5 pm CET. The purpose is to answer all open questions customers may have.

Isar Aerospace won first place in the Microlauncher Competition

The first round of the competition, in which small satellites could compete for the first flight on Isar Aerospaces’ Spectrum launch vehicle, took place in 2021. Five institutions from Germany, Norway and Slovenia were selected with a total of seven small satellites. It was the first time in Europe, that the German government entrusted a privately financed European space company with the launch of institutional payloads.

Fly-along opportunity for small satellites is part of the microlauncher competition

The payload competition is embedded in the microlauncher competition that the German Space Agency at DLR has been organizing since 2020 as part of the European Space Agency’s Boost! program. The aim of this program is to advance the commercialization of European spaceflight and to improve the autonomy and competitiveness of companies and research institutions, especially in the field of smaller payloads.

The announcement with all relevant information for participants and application forms can be found on the website of the German Space Agency at DLR

Find here the full document with all details in English.

About Isar Aerospace

Isar Aerospace, based in Ottobrunn/Munich, develops and builds launch vehicles for transporting small and medium-sized satellites as well as satellite constellations into Earth’s orbit. The company was founded in 2018 by Daniel Metzler, Josef Fleischmann, and Markus Brandl. Since then, it has grown to more than 220 employees from more than 40 nations with many years of hands-on rocket know-how as well as experience within other high-tech industries. The company is privately financed by former SpaceX VP Bulent Altan as well as leading investors including Airbus Ventures, Apeiron, Earlybird, HV Capital, Lakestar, Lombard Odier, Porsche SE, UVC Partners, and Vsquared Ventures.

More information via: https://www.isaraerospace.com/

About the German Space Agency at DLR

The DLR is the national research center of the Federal Republic of Germany for Aerospace. The German Space Agency, based at DLR in Bonn, implements the Federal Government’s space strategy. It integrates Germany’s space activities at national and European level and represents German space interests worldwide on behalf of the Federal Government. Its tasks include in particular the conception and implementation of the national space program and the management of German contributions to the European Space Agency (ESA) and the EU’s Horizon Europe research framework program. In addition, the German Space Agency at DLR works closely with the EU space agency EUSPA and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).

Further information: https://www.dlr.de/rd/ and https://twitter.com/DLR_SpaceAgency