🔥 Our 2026 Rocket Factory Augsburg update:
- 🚀 RFA One has not flown as of October 2026. 19 August 2024 stage loss at SaxaVord (turbopump oxygen fire); rebuilt pad attempt cancelled August–September 2026 after a destack — no new public launch date
- 📜 ESA European Launcher Challenge EUR 186.9 million (Aug 2026); first instalment EUR 30 million per OHB; orbital launch required before 2028. Boost! SaxaVord extension EUR 2.7 million (Sep 2026)
- 💰 KKR EUR 30 million convertible (Aug 2023); YE2024 convertible stock EUR 56.3 million. No single valuation point estimate
- 🏢 OHB overview 56.8%; same notes 65.1% At-Equity with voting-rights restriction. Grundkapital EUR 13.26 million. Vorstand: Brieschenk + Schullerer
- 👥 Filed average employees 249 (2024); YE 266 including interns/working students
- 🛰 Marketing 1,300 kg to 500 km SSO; first Block 1 flights ~500 kg
Flight status — still waiting for orbit
When we last refreshed the full review in August 2024, RFA still carried near-term first-flight colour and older Q2/2024 plans on the page. Two years on, the hardware is real — and still waiting for a successful countdown.
On 19 August 2024 a nine-engine static fire at SaxaVord ended in an oxygen-side turbopump fire and the loss of the first stage. SaxaVord confirmed the anomaly; nobody was hurt. RFA rebuilt, returned stages in March 2026, integrated nine Helix engines, and put a vehicle on the pad in July. A window opening 10 August was cancelled after a late-July destack. ESA’s September materials still describe hot-fire and Test Flight-1 as upcoming work — not completed flights.
Bottom line: no orbit yet, and no fresh public NET after the cancelled August window.
Money — convertibles vs ESA
Treat these as different instruments:
- Convertibles / KKR — debt with an equity option. EUR 30 million KKR package (2023); EUR 56.3 million convertible Nennbetrag on the 2024 balance sheet.
- ESA Launcher Challenge — EUR 186.9 million milestone contract (2026).
- ESA Boost! — earlier CSTS milestones visible in 2024 revenue plus the 2026 SaxaVord extension (EUR 2.7 million).
We are not republishing a valuation point estimate. Dated instruments beat inventing a post-money. The 2024 AG accounts show a small annual profit after ESA milestone revenue and capitalised development — an accounting result, not proof that launch operations are profitable.
Company and sites
Legal: Rocket Factory Augsburg AG, AG Augsburg HRB 34251, Berliner Allee 65. UK ops: Rocket Factory Ltd SC749998 (Active; registered office in Inverness). Primary pad: SaxaVord Spaceport. Test support: Esrange / Kiruna.
What’s next
Watch, in order: a new SaxaVord window; a successful stacked hot-fire; whether Test Flight-1 clears the pad before the ELC orbital-before-2028 gate gets uncomfortable; further register capital / conversion filings; Block 2 messaging versus Block 1 flown reality.
For the fully updated analysis, read the refreshed Rocket Factory Augsburg review.
All information in this analysis was obtained from public sources and we encourage you to do your own due diligence. Feel free to contact us for corrections or share our content. Attribution is always welcome.
