DLR

Rocket Factory Augsburg signs deal to test engines at DLR premises
Rocket Factory Augsburg has signed a deal allowing it to build and operate its own engine test stand at German Aerospace Center (DLR) premises.

NASA defends decision to shut down SOFIA
NASA officials say they believe the latest effort to shut down an airborne observatory is more likely to be successful because of the endorsement of doing so by last year’s decadal survey.

NASA and DLR to end SOFIA operations
NASA and German space agency DLR announced April 28 they will end operations of an airborne astrophysics observatory in September.

SpaceX launches fourth dedicated rideshare mission
SpaceX launched the fourth in its series of dedicated rideshare missions April 1, placing one relatively large satellite and dozens of smallsats into low Earth orbit.

DLR opens applications for free launch services aboard Isar Aerospace demo missions
German space agency DLR began accepting applications this week for institutional payloads to fly aboard a pair of Isar Aerospace Spectrum launches free of charge.

Space agencies support ISS extension as NASA warns of space race with China
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said he remains confident that Russia will remain a part of the International Space Station through the end of the decade but warned of an emerging space race with China.

Isar Aerospace wins three-way DLR microlauncher competition
German launch startup Isar Aerospace beat out Rocket Factory Augsburg and HyImpulse Technologies to win a DLR endorsement that clears the way for it to secure 11 million euros from the European Space Agency’s Boost! program.

German startup Isar Aerospace signs first launch contract
Isar Aerospace, one of three German startups vying for ESA funding for smallsat launchers they each aim to debut next year, has won its first launch contract.

Germany joins JAXA’s low-cost deep space test mission
The German Aerospace Center, DLR, has partnered with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on a planned low-cost asteroid mission called Destiny+, expected to launch toward the asteroid 3200 Phaethon in 2024.

ESA awards €1.5 million to three German launch startups
The European Space Agency awarded German launch startups HyImpulse Technologies, Rocket Factory Augsburg, and Isar Aerospace a combined 1.5 million euros ($1.7 million) to support development of competing smallsat launchers.