Public money per orbit reached
Public money a rocket has received or been granted, divided by the number of its flights that reached orbit. Money set aside for flights that have not happened yet is shown apart. Figures as of 8 October 2026.
Short answer, as of 8 October 2026: Ariane 6 has had €513m of public money per flight that reached orbit (nine flights), Vega C €87m (seven) and Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum €67m (one). Per kilogram the rocket can carry to low orbit, that is €210k to €448k for Ariane 6, €240k for Vega C and €67k for Spectrum. Six European launch firms have taken €293m of public money without reaching orbit. Money for future flights, such as the European Launcher Challenge contracts, is not counted. The table below gives every figure.
€293m
to European launch firms that have never reached orbit, plus €346m in contracts for future launches
€513m
Ariane 6, per flight to orbit, nine flights since July 2024
€87m
Vega C, per flight to orbit, seven of them
€67m
Isar Aerospace, one orbit, 5 September 2026
Rockets that have reached orbit
For scale: Falcon 9 cost €268m to develop and has reached orbit 678 times, €0.4m of development money per orbit. Part of that money was public: NASA paid USD 396m under its COTS programme for Falcon 9 and the Dragon capsule together, and no split for the rocket alone exists.
Public money, no orbit yet
Firms that have taken public money and have not put anything in orbit. Orbex is in administration since 18 February 2026.
Esrange has had €99m of public money for its launch site since 2018 and has launched nothing into orbit.
All figures in one table
| Who | Rocket | Public money | Flights to orbit | Per flight to orbit | Payload to low orbit | Public money per kg of payload | Not counted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ariane 6Europe (ESA) | Ariane 62 / 64 | €4,617.9m | 9 | €513m | 10,300 / 22,000 kg | €448k / €210k | €1,952m from the 2025 ESA subscription, mostly for flights in 2026 to 2028 |
| Vega CEurope (ESA) | Vega C | €611.8m | 7 | €87m | 2,550 kg | €240k | €174m of ESA support for running the rocket |
| Isar AerospaceGermany | Spectrum | €67.0m | 1 | €67m | 1,000 kg | €67k | €197.8m Launcher Challenge contract |
| PLD SpaceSpain | MIURA 5 | €114.2m | 0 | no orbit yet | 1,040 kg | €110k | €158.9m Launcher Challenge contract |
| OrbexUnited Kingdom | Prime | €89.8m | 0 | no orbit yet | 180 kg | €499k | In administration since 18 February 2026 |
| HyImpulseGermany | SL1 | €35.0m | 0 | no orbit yet | 600 kg | €58k | |
| Rocket Factory AugsburgGermany | RFA One | €34.6m | 0 | no orbit yet | 500 kg | €69k | €186.9m Launcher Challenge contract |
| LatitudeFrance | Latitude launcher | at least €15.0m | 0 | no orbit yet | 200 kg | at least €75k | Public money is a floor: more not published |
| SkyroraUnited Kingdom | Skyrora XL | €4.4m | 0 | no orbit yet | 315 kg (sun-synchronous only) | €14k (sun-synchronous) | |
| Falcon 9, for scaleUnited States | Falcon 9 | €268m development money, part public | 678 | €0.4m | 22,800 kg | €12k | NASA paid USD 396m under COTS for Falcon 9 and Dragon together |
“Per kg of payload” is the public money divided by the most the rocket can carry to low orbit, as its maker gives it on European rockets compared. It shows how much public money stands behind each kilogram a rocket can lift, not a launch price. For Ariane 6 the first figure uses Ariane 62, the second Ariane 64.
How we count
Public money is money from the state: grants, awards, state loans and public development contracts. Equity from state-owned funds sits with the shareholder money and is not counted here. No agency publishes what it has paid out to date, so these are sums granted or signed, not payments.
Money for future flights is left out of the per-orbit figures: the European Launcher Challenge contracts of 27 August 2026, which pay against launches (Isar Aerospace €197.8m, Rocket Factory Augsburg €186.9m, PLD Space €158.9m), and ESA support for Ariane 6 and Vega C flights still to come.
Per kg of payload divides the public money by the payload to low orbit that each maker gives, so a rocket that has not flown gets a figure too. It is not a launch price per kg.
An orbit is a flight that reached orbit, from Jonathan McDowell’s launch log, 7 October 2026.
Ariane 6: €4,618m from the 2015 development and pad contracts and the ESA subscriptions of 2019 and 2022. The 2025 subscription adds €1,952m, mostly for flights from 2026 to 2028. With it, the figure would be €730m per flight. The sums are in the prices of the year each was agreed.
Vega C: €87m per flight counts the 2015 development contract and the Vega C lines of the 2019 and 2022 subscriptions. On the development contract alone it is €58m; with ESA’s support for running the rocket it is €112m.
Sources: ESA contracts and subscription documents; company accounts and the German lobby register; the Orbex administrators’ proposals; Swedish government bills and SSC reports; Jonathan McDowell’s GCAT launch log. Every figure is on the page it comes from.
See how the companies compare in the 2026 ranking, and what ESA pays for in the European Launcher Challenge. All companies: launch companies. All sites: spaceports. For each rocket’s promised dates, see European launch dates, and for size and payload, European rockets compared. State owners in listed space firms: European space stocks.
