Isar Aerospace SE

Launch companies › Isar Aerospace

Welcome to our in-depth analysis of Isar Aerospace, originally published on April 23rd, 2023 and most recently updated on October 8th, 2026 Updated content. Make sure to check out our mission statement and why we do what we do. Look at our New Space guide if you want explanations of terms and concepts used in our research. See Spectrum next to Europe’s other rockets in European rockets compared, and every first-launch date Isar has given in European launch dates. And follow us on X for updates.

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🚀 Update from October 2026

• In orbit. Spectrum reached orbit on its second flight on 5 September 2026 from Andøya in Norway, carrying five small satellites and one test payload. The first flight on 30 March 2025 ended after about 30 seconds, when a vent valve opened by mistake and the rocket lost control at the start of its roll.
• Late. In December 2019 Isar promised a first launch in late 2021. Orbit came almost five years after that date, and the second flight was called off four times between January and June 2026.
• Money. Isar said it had raised more than EUR 400 million by June 2024. Since then it closed a EUR 270 million Series D in June 2026, and about EUR 140 million of convertible bonds from Eldridge and Lakestar turned into shares.
• Valuation. The register and the bond terms put the Series D price between about EUR 10,300 and EUR 12,700 per share. On the 186,445 shares now registered, that is a value of about EUR 1.9 to 2.4 billion, set three months before orbit.
• Public money. Isar’s own filings show about EUR 67 million in grants and awards from 2021 to 2025. ESA then signed a EUR 197.8 million European Launcher Challenge contract on 27 August 2026, nine days before the orbital flight.
• People. Co-founder Josef Fleischmann left the management board in September 2026. Daniel Metzler and the new CTO Can Araz now form the board, and the business address moved to the new plant in Parsdorf-Vaterstetten near Munich.
• Accounts. The 2024 group accounts show a loss of EUR 77.0 million, EUR 29.7 million in cash at year end and 418 staff on average. For 2021, Deloitte refused to give an audit opinion because the next funding round was not yet secured.

What you should know about Isar Aerospace

Isar Aerospace: Munich’s #1 new space rocket company

Isar Aerospace is a German new space company that has raised about EUR 800 million in shares and convertible bonds, more than any other launch startup in Europe. Its Spectrum rocket, a two-stage liquid-fuel rocket designed to launch payloads of up to 1000 kilograms into orbit, reached orbit on its second flight from Andøya Space Center on 5 September 2026. ESA called it the first launch to orbit from continental Europe, which makes Isar a key player in the future of European space launch. Isar Aerospace’s significant funding and innovative technology position it as a company to watch in the coming years.

What exactly makes Isar Aerospace special? How does Isar Aerospace’s offering compare on a German, a European and an international level? What are launch prices, signed contracts and the likelihood of success? How long until Isar will launch their first rocket? We’ll be diving a bit deeper into Isar Aerospaces background, from their founders to funding to financials and the future.

Who is Isar Aerospace? A background on the German rocket company

Early beginnings: From a rocket prototype to ESA incubators and first funding

Isar Aerospace was founded in February 2018 by Josef Fleischmann, Daniel Metzler and Markus Brandl, a German and two Austrian citizens living and studying in Munich, Germany. The company, officially Isar Aerospace Technologies GmbH, has the goal of “developing, industrial manufacturing and qualification of rocket engines and components for the rocket, launch and space industry“.

The three students, whose paths first crossed during their university years in 2017 at the Technical University Munich’s TUM-Student Group “WARR” (Wissenschaftliche Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Raketentechnik und Raumfahrt – Scientific Working Group for Rocket Technology and Space Exploration), where they developed a small engine named Finch. Their initial test videos evoked interest and they made use of Munich’s aerospace ecosystem, including such programs as Xpreneurs Incubator third batch of startups and their “Makerspace”, and then further received backing from European Space Agency’s (ESA) “Business Incubation Center” in Oberpfaffenhofen, a small town near Munich. The founders quickly raised funds from the venture capital (VC) arm of their alma mater, Technical University Munich called Unternehmertum Venture Capital Partners (UVC Partners), as well as from VC Vito Ventures and former SpaceX executives and early employees, David Giger and Bülent Altan.

Building a product: Isar Aerospace’s “Finch” and “Aquila” engines and Spectrum Rocket

Their initial beginnings in 2017 and 2018 were around developing the pressure-fed “Finch” engine, a LOX/hydrocarbon alternative with a thrust of 2 kN (“vac”, meaning vacuum, a rocket used in the vacuum of space, “kN” meaning kilo Newton, a measurement of thrust) and a burn time of 600s+. The 40 kN Aquila SL (“SL”, meaning sea-level, a rocket engine used on earth) gas-generator engine, also based on liquid oxygen (“LOX”)/hydrocarbon propellants, was their initial orbital class rocket, with a burn time of 400s+ and initially planned to be reusable.

In 2019, Isar updated their specs and technological roadmap, dropped the Finch engine from development and updated the Aquila rocket engine to a thrust of 75 kN and introduced the Spectrum rocket, a two-stage launch vehicle designed for satellite constellation deployment. The target payload is 1,000 kg to low earth orbit (“LEO”) – sometimes also projected to be 1200 kg – and 700 kg sun-synchronous-orbit with a multi-ignition second stage engine. By mid 2019, Aquila’s vacuum-thrust was updated to 94 kN with a burn time of 230s (updated to 300s in 2021), whereas their the Aquila SL engines – of which 9 would be used on the first stage – provided a total of 675 kN with a burn time of 140s. (updated to 150s in 2020). Further information included a length of 27 m with a 2 m diameter, 10 engines (9 on the first, one on the second).

With their first big Series A funding of $17 million completed in December 2019, Isar was ready to take off, accelerate development and expand in 2020. This culminated in a hiring spree, doubling headcount from around 50 at the end of 2019 to over 100 at the end of 2020. In September 2020, they successfully opened their 4500 square meter production hall in Ottobrunn on the outskirts of Munich with prominent participants such as Bavaria’s minister of state Dr. Markus Söder, signalling high level political support. Continuing strong and showing that their technological progress on their rocket was working well, they closed their Series B at the end of December 2020 at $90 Million, with existing investors and adding new VCs like Lakestar, Vsquare Ventures, Christian Angermayer’s Apeiron and German government backed KFW Ventures. The largest funding round to date was their Series C with EUR 155 million from existing investors, primarily from existing and a few new investors, such as 7-Industries Holding and Bayern Kapital.

Isar Aerospace’s current (and former) rocket engines: Aquila and Finch

Commercialization: Spectrum’s potential, finding the niche and launch site

In 2021, Isar Aerospace’s commercialization effort took further hold. Payload guides and the possibility of booking flights was enabled on their website, with customers being able to choose between “Dedicated”, “Lead” or “Rideshare”-slots. Luckily, more and more work regarding transparency was done and Isar opened their doors for behind the scene looks into their factory and a first visualization of a potential Spectrum launch.

Isar further announced their launch site publicly in April 2021, which would be from Andøya Space Center in Norway, favoring sun synchronous as well as polar orbits. As one of the first commercial rocket companies, Isar was also granted the license to use ESA’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, announced in July 2022 – the go-to spaceport for European and ESA-backed launches. This makes Isar Aerospace one of the first private rocket companies to launch from Kourou, alongside Rocket Factory Augsburg. Update, October 2026: Isar has not launched from Kourou and has no pad there. In September 2025 the French space agency CNES listed Isar among four companies with a pre-contract for a feasibility phase, while PLD Space was the only one with a development contract.

Isar also has been using Kiruna’s Swedish Space Station in Lapland for testing purposes since January 2020. In 2021, around 15 of their employees were based in Sweden and as of April 2023, there are over 40 employees working in Kiruna. Their local testing is currently done in a small village outside of Munich called Reischach, where they have set up test containers. Of course, locals have already started complaining that every once in a while, there are loud noises emitting from the site – petitioning the local government to ban it outright.

Isar once showed interest in Portugal’s launch site in the Azores, now licensed as Santa Maria Spaceport, though it does not seem likely anything will happen here.

Isar Aerospace: A truly European rocket company

Track record: Contracts with Airbus, Ororatech, Endurosat and more

During their commercialization efforts in 2021, Isar was able to sign their first contracts with interested parties. This included a contract with Airbus Defense in April 2021. They also gained EUR 11 million in prize money from the DLR Microlauncher Competition the following month, which was a prepayment for a 150 kilogram launch whose constituents were picked by DLR in December of 2022. Update, October 2026: DLR picked 7 payloads for the first flight and 19 for the second. The first flight carried none of them, and the second carried five small satellites and one test payload. In September 2021, OroraTech and Isar announced a new partnership to launch 10 Ororatech satellites over the course of 5 years, with another satellite company – EnduroSat – ordering multi-launch ride-shares with Isar between 2022 and 2025.

Closing a strong 2021, Isar signed Swiss company Astrocast for a launch of their global nano-satellite IoT network, with a targeted launch in 2024. Another signed contract was for D-Orbit in June of 2022 to carry its ION space tug to a sun-synchronous orbit in 2023. In November 2022, the company signed Exotrail’s spacedrop delivery service for multiple launches to low earth orbit between 2024 and 2029.

From first test to orbit: Isar Aerospace from 2023 to 2026

After the Series C of March 2023, Isar spent three years turning a test programme into a rocket that flies. Andøya’s spaceport opened in November 2023 with a pad that Isar may use alone for up to 20 years. In May 2024 Isar signed for a new 40,000 m² head office and plant in Parsdorf-Vaterstetten near Munich, planned for up to 40 rockets a year. The company became Isar Aerospace SE on 13 February 2024, after a few days as an AG, and in June 2024 it raised more than EUR 65 million in a Series C extension that brought in the NATO Innovation Fund.

The first Spectrum lifted off from Andøya on 30 March 2025 without customer payloads. The flight was ended after about 30 seconds, and the rocket fell into the sea close to the pad. Isar called the flight “a great success” on the day, and its 2024 accounts call it the first successful start. Its own review later named the “unintended opening of the vent valve and a loss of attitude control at the start of the roll maneuver” as the cause and promised better software and wider margins.

In June 2025 Eldridge Industries, the investment firm of Todd Boehly, agreed to lend EUR 150 million in convertible bonds, and Lakestar later added EUR 35 million. ESA picked Isar for the European Launcher Challenge in July 2025, and at the ESA ministers’ meeting in November 2025 Germany, Norway and Austria pledged EUR 205.65 million for Isar. ESA signed a contract of EUR 197.8 million on 27 August 2026 and called Isar “the first provider to reach this milestone”.

The second flight took eight months of countdowns. It was called off on 21 January 2026 for a valve, on 25 March for a boat in the danger zone, on 9 April for a leaking pressure tank and on 15 June for the fluid systems. Between those dates Isar closed its EUR 270 million Series D on 9 June 2026. On 5 September 2026 at 22:12 local time Spectrum reached orbit and released all payloads, and most of the satellites made contact in the days after.

Two weeks later Josef Fleischmann handed over his work to found a company for computing in orbit. Can Araz, who had worked at Isar since its start, became CTO and joined the board on 1 October 2026. In July 2026 Isar signed a ten-year deal to use Spaceport Nova Scotia in Canada from 2028. It came the day after Canada picked TKMS, a German submarine maker and Isar partner, for a large submarine order. Isar pays the spaceport operator, Maritime Launch Services, USD 3.75 million a quarter after a 30-month waiver, according to the deal both companies published.

Spectrum’s flights so far

Promises and delivery: the date of the first flight

Isar’s first-flight date moved seven times in public. The chart below sets each promise against the two flights, from the press release of December 2019 to the accounts for 2023, which were signed in November 2024.

Isar Aerospace Business Model: Strategy, Prices and Reusability

Isar has a unique strategy, because it plans to develop and manufacture as many parts as possible in-house. With this vertical integration-approach, the company tries to achieve significant cost savings and proprietary technology for long-term market share and dominance. This sets Isar apart from companies such as RFA, who plan to buy around 40% of their components as off-the-shelf products, while focussing on pricing and flight services.

In terms of business strategy, this of course means a much higher learning curve and a lot more capital required to get to launch and production.

Since Isar uses a “vertical integration” approach, let’s take a look at the capital Isar might need to get to production. Let’s look at the price to build a vertically integrated rocket (company):

1. SpaceX’s Falcon 1 cost around $100 million to develop
2. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 cost around $350 – $400 million to develop
3. Rocket Lab’s Electron cost around $175 million to develop

So far, Isar has raised around EUR 330 million to develop Spectrum, plus grants, plus potential prepayments from their signed contracts, meaning that they are in a position to get their rocket to launch and initial operations. Update, October 2026: Reaching orbit took more. By the Series D of June 2026 Isar had raised about EUR 800 million in shares and convertible bonds, plus about EUR 67 million in grants and awards.

Isar Aerospaces launch pricing

According to Isar Aerospace’s own plans, the rocket company aims to launch their first expendable Spectrum rockets for a price tag of around EUR 10 million per launch (previous estimates have also been between EUR 10 million and EUR 15 million). With a LEO-capacity of around 1,000 kg and an SSO capacity of 600 – 700 kg per launch, this leaves a price-tag of €10,000 to €15,000 per kilogram to LEO or around €15,000 – €25,000 per kg to sun-synchronous orbit. Update, October 2026: Isar’s accounts for 2021 and 2022 name a price of EUR 10,000 to 12,000 per kg.

Let’s put the number into context:

1. Market for small launch vehicles
2. European competition

The international market for small launch vehicles is currently being targeted by companies such as Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket in the US, Long March 11 in China and ArianeSpace’s Vega in Europa. All those have launch prices between $10,000 per kg (China) and $20,000 – $25,000 per kg (Europe and US). Ride-sharing with the market leader, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 will cost customers only around $1,500 – $2,500 per kg. Update, October 2026: in 2026 dollars a dedicated small launch now costs from about $7,600 per kg (Kinetica-1, China) to $31,000 per kg (Electron, to LEO). A Falcon 9 rideshare seat costs about $7,000 per kg on SpaceX’s 2026 price list. The $1,500 – $2,500 figure was a 2021 estimate for Starship, not rideshare. The chart below shows all current prices.

Looking at the European competition, Isar is competing with ArianeSpace, who offer the Vega rocket and Ariane 5ES (and Ariane 6 in the future). Both Ariane 5 and Ariane 6 have a price tag of around $7,500 kg per launch, whereas Vega and the next iteration Vega V are targeting a “lower price tag”. Update, October 2026: Ariane 5 retired in 2023. In 2026 dollars, Ariane 62 comes to about $9,600 per kg (an ESA contract) and Ariane 64 to about $7,900 per kg (an estimate), both to LEO; Vega C costs about $18,700 per kg to LEO.

In terms of national competition, Rocket Factory Augsburg aims to go as low as €2,500 per kg, while initial launches will be at around €10,000 per kg – though they have, just like Isar, yet to prove themselves (2023 figures. RFA publishes no price today: it advertised EUR 3 million per launch in 2021, and a 2023 ESA page gave EUR 9 million. With the 500 kg its first version carries to SSO, that is about $21,700 per kg in 2026 dollars.). Overall, dedicated rides, higher cadence and higher reliability give Isar advantages to compete with a steeper price than existing, government funded rockets. They’re however in high competition to other commercial providers. Update, October 2026: Isar reached orbit in September 2026. RFA has not flown yet.

Isar Aerospace: Moving towards reusability – in the future

Obviously, reusability is on the company’s mind and has been from the beginning. When they founded the company, SpaceX was already regularly landing their boosters. Official strategy has been published only a few times, such as at the IAC2021 in Dubai, where they express “major interest on their side in understanding the potential of reusability. Nevertheless, their primary attention at the moment is getting their systems flying and reaching orbit, even as an ELV.”

Isar’s plan seems to be the following:

1. Develop and produce as much of the technology needed to build a rocket in-house
2. Build the rocket and get it to low-earth orbit with a capacity of around 1000 kg
3. Iterate to reduce costs and become financially stable
4. Develop technology for reusability until the year 2030

Considering they have secured contracts to launch over 20 times already, this means they have at least EUR 200,000,000,- in potential revenue if they reach orbit. Update, October 2026: Isar’s accounts for 2023 value its signed launch contracts at more than EUR 133 million. Revenue was zero in 2023 and 2024, and only the second flight carried customer payloads.

A look at Isar Aerospace’s cost and pricing strategy: Medium to medium-high priced small launcher

Isar Aerospace: Funding and financials

After looking at the business model from a pricing perspective, let’s look at the Isar Aerospace’s funding history. So far, Isar has raised around EUR 310 million through venture capital firms, corporates and different grants. Around 160 million Euros came through their Seed, their Series A and their Series B round. Another 155 million Euros were raised in their Series C in April 2023. Update, October 2026: With the Series C extension, the Series D and the converted bonds the total is now about EUR 800 million. The table runs to 2026, with share counts from the commercial register.

Isar Aerospace so far has been valued at EUR 10 to EUR 13 million in their seed round, after raising a “few million” from investors such as Vito Ventures and Unternehmertum, leaving the exact amount unclear. We’ve estimated 2.5 million Euro.

In their Series A in December 2019, they raised EUR 16 million, including existing investors plus new investor Bülent Altan, former SpaceX VP, Earlybird Ventures, Airbus Ventures and Kupke GmbH.

In August of 2020 (officially in December 2020) they closed their first part of the Series B with EUR 75 million in funding, which included existing investors and new investors such as Vsquared Ventures, HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, Lakestar Growth Fund, Apeiron, Lombard Odier and Porsche SE. Just taking this initial funding, they were valued at around 500 million Euro. If you take into consideration their “extended Series B“, which closed in July 2021 (officially in December 2021) to raise another 63 million Euro, their valuation was at a more reasonable EUR 320 million post money (raising EUR 138 million by issuing >40% of new shares). Update, October 2026: The register allows a closer count per step. The first Series B step issued 27,846 shares for about EUR 75 million, which puts Isar at about EUR 220 million after it. The extension issued 9,536 shares for EUR 63.3 million, about EUR 6,640 each, or about EUR 570 million after the round. The EUR 320 million above is an average over both steps.

As of February 2023, according to unconfirmed reports, Isar was looking for EUR 200 million at a valuation of around 1 billion Euros, which was subscribed by at least EUR 50 to 70 million. The Series C Isar Aerospace Funding was confirmed in March 2023 at EUR 155 million. Company records show that Isar issued 19,676 new shares, bringing the total to 106,459 shares and valuing Isar Aerospace at around € 840 million post money.

2024 to 2026: convertible bonds and the Series D

The Series C extension of June 2024 brought in EUR 66.4 million according to the 2024 group accounts. In the same month ATEL Ventures lent USD 20 million for production machines, of which USD 14.1 million was still owed at the end of 2024. The bond terms filed with the register set 8% interest for the Eldridge bonds, three parts of EUR 50 million, and a valuation cap that rose from EUR 1.0 billion to EUR 1.75 billion the later a part was paid. In June 2026 two Eldridge parts and both Lakestar bonds turned into 18,620 shares at EUR 6,615 and EUR 8,269 per share, about EUR 140.5 million with interest.

The Series D of 9 June 2026 issued 21,274 new shares to 22 investors. The largest blocks went to Island Green, Molten Ventures, HV Capital, a UVC fund, 10x and the NATO Innovation Fund, and KfW Capital, the German state investor, put in EUR 25 million through the UVC fund. Isar is now an SE with a supervisory board of seven led by Bülent Altan, with Klaus Hommels of Lakestar as deputy and Todd Boehly among the members.

Public money: what Isar received and what it delivered

Isar is often described as privately funded, and most of its money did come from investors. Public money still played a part before the first orbit, and it grew once the rocket was close to flying. Isar’s own filings show about EUR 67 million in grants and awards from 2021 to 2025. The accounts booked EUR 14.2 million in 2021 and EUR 2.1 million in 2022, and the lobby register lists EUR 2.4 million, EUR 9.9 million and EUR 38.1 million for 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The launcher challenge money splits into EUR 176.85 million pledged by Germany, EUR 25 million by Norway and EUR 3.8 million by Austria. Norway put EUR 5 million of its share into the first part of the programme and EUR 20 million into the second, and kept another EUR 4.8 million that is not yet assigned to a company. Norway also paid for the spaceport itself: the state gave Andøya Space NOK 365.6 million in shares and grants, approved in 2021.

Financials: what the filed accounts show

Isar’s accounts are filed late and on two bases, which makes the years hard to compare. Up to 2023 the company filed single-entity accounts under German rules, and for 2024 it published group accounts under IFRS, with 2023 restated. The table keeps both, so each row says which accounts it comes from.

The opinion for 2021 matters most. Deloitte wrote that it gives no audit opinion and refuses the certificate, because it could not confirm that investors were willing or bound to fund the round planned for the first half of 2023, and the company faced a cash risk that threatened its survival. The Series C closed seven weeks later, and the audits for 2022 and 2023 carry no warning. In 2024 the group spent EUR 106 million in cash and ended the year with EUR 29.7 million, so it relied on the Eldridge and Lakestar bonds in 2025 and the Series D in 2026. The single-entity loss for 2024 was EUR 96.9 million, according to the minutes of the shareholder meeting of June 2026.

Valuation: what the Series D price says

Isar has published no valuation, and the register does not show the Series D price, because the shares were issued at EUR 1 each with the premium paid outside the register. Two facts give a range. The bond terms convert at the lower of 80% of the round price or the cap price, and the bonds converted at the cap price of EUR 8,269, so the Series D price was at least EUR 10,336 per share. If all EUR 270 million paid for the 21,274 new shares, the price was EUR 12,692. On the 186,445 registered shares that gives about EUR 1.9 to 2.4 billion after the round, without options for staff, and Greenberg Traurig, a law firm on the deal, reported more than EUR 2 billion.

That price was set in June 2026, three months before orbit. Orbit lowers the risk for investors, but until a new round or a sale of shares sets a new price, the Series D is the best public measure. We do not give a single figure.

How Isar compares: years and money to first orbit

Isar took about as long as LandSpace and Firefly and less time than Rocket Lab. Like Rocket Lab and Firefly, it reached orbit on the second flight of a liquid-fuel rocket. It needed far more money than Rocket Lab did, partly because prices have risen since 2017 and partly because Isar also built its own pad, a large plant and test sites, which is our reading and not a sourced figure.

My opinion on Isar Aerospace and why you should keep an eye on them

What I like about Isar Aerospace

• Founder-led: Highest funded private launch company in Germany and Europe. EUR 170 million in funding could already be enough to reach orbit. It is quite remarkable for such funding numbers to be achieved in Europe, let alone Germany. Update, October 2026: Reaching orbit took about EUR 800 million in shares and bonds. Co-founder Daniel Metzler still leads the company.
• Expertise: Bülent Altan and ex SpaceX-managers have invested in the company, with high ranking VCs and support from corporates giving them political capital. Update, October 2026: Bülent Altan leads the supervisory board, and Todd Boehly of Eldridge joined it in December 2024.
• Straight out of university: Privately funded, founded by students coming straight out of university. This is – so far – shaping up to be a great success story and something that is quite rare coming out of Germany. Update, October 2026: Spectrum is the first rocket from a German startup to reach orbit.
• They reached orbit: Spectrum reached orbit on its second flight, as Rocket Lab and Firefly did, and ESA called it the first launch to orbit from continental Europe.

What I don’t like about Isar Aerospace

• Time to reach orbit: The initial launch has been postponed several times with new targets for 2023 and 2024. Isar has signed several contracts already, but time is certainly ticking. Let’s hope they will be able to produce several vehicles in the next 6 to 12 months, or close another massive funding round. They’ll certainly have a heavy cash-burn of what we assume must be around Euro 4 to 8 million per month. Update, October 2026: Orbit came in September 2026, almost five years after the first target. The cash burn was higher than we assumed: EUR 112 million left the group in 2023 and EUR 106 million in 2024, about EUR 9 million a month.
• Sustainable – kinda: Focussing PR on green propellants and disregarding the fact that these are rockets that will be “thrown away” is like applauding Airbus for using hydrogen fuel for planes that can only be flown once. I can however understand that this is what the European public likes to focus on so it certainly makes sense from a PR perspective. Update, October 2026: Bavaria paid about EUR 0.6 million toward a reuse demonstrator in 2024, but Spectrum is still lost after every flight.
• Public money arrived late in the race: Isar likes to call itself privately funded. Yet the EUR 197.8 million launcher challenge contract came nine days before orbit, after the rocket had shown it could fly, and Boost! paid EUR 33 million in 2025 alone.
• Success on paper: The press release and the 2024 accounts call the first flight a success. It ended after about 30 seconds.

Things to watch out for

• Expanding cap table: With large corporates, several VCs and semi-governmental entities, using the more person-oriented structure of a GmbH (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung – limited liability company) instead of a share-based approach (AG, Aktiengesellschaft – joint-stock company) could pose issues down the line. The founders no longer have a veto right according to the share register (less than 25%), which they gave up in their Series C round. The cap table currently has 25 different shareholders including the founders. Further dilution at least on the financial side comes from virtual shares issued to employees. Update, October 2026: Isar became an AG and then an SE in February 2024, which settles the GmbH point. The last public list of shareholders, from November 2023, shows the founders’ holding company with 18.8%, and an SE files no public list. The share count has since grown from 109,279 to 186,445.
• One founder on the board: Josef Fleischmann left the management board in September 2026. Daniel Metzler now leads with the new CTO Can Araz, and the register does not show whether Fleischmann kept his shares.
• Flight rate: Rockets 3 to 7 are in production, but flight 3 has no date. Isar plans at least four flights in 2027 and says its 2028 order book is full. Two flights in eighteen months is the record so far.
• Cash: The group had EUR 29.7 million at the end of 2024 and burned about EUR 106 million that year. The accounts for 2025, due by the end of 2026, will show how far the bonds and the Series D carry it.

Where to find more information on Isar Aerospace

• Isar Aerospace frequently posts videos and updates on their LinkedIn, YouTube and X channels
• Their homepage has good overall information and they also post current information and press releases
• Their career’s page gives you insights on what it’s like working at Isar and gives you their current open positions
• Looking for some exciting merchandize? Isar Aerospace’s shop has you covered

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Isar Aerospace: Jobs and career

If you want to know about more about how Isar Aerospace works, what products and technologies they use and how it is like to work there, we’ll have you covered in this section. Generally, from what we gather, German language skills are not a necessity for a job at Isar. The environment generally supports and welcomes English speakers, though German certainly helps. Some jobs even welcome French skills, probably due to France’s significant role in the European aerospace ecosystem. Update, October 2026: Isar had 418 employees on average in 2024, and its press releases have said “over 400” since February 2024. Salaries and tools below come from job ads of 2022 and 2023.

Isar Aerospace: Salary, benefits and employee participation

In terms of salary, you can expect decent wages even though technically, Isar is still a startup. They might not pay you top-dollars right away, but German wages are pretty decent and Isar needs to attract significant talent. We estimate that engineers with university degrees or significant experience should yield between EUR 50,000 – EUR 75,000 base salary per year (before taxes). Employees in business administration or marketing are expected to make closer to EUR 35,000 – EUR 45,000. Working students or students writing their master thesis can still earn up to EUR 35,000 per year while earning significant experience. Higher level jobs or jobs with significant responsibility also offer virtual shares (ESOP) to participate in company success, such as through an “exit” (the company gets bought out) or for dividend payments.

Overall, the working culture is described as modern and with flat hierarchies. Some of the benefits that Isar offers (depending on the position):

• 30 days holiday
• Subsidised lunch
• Individual learning budget
• Virtual company shares
• Sport club membership
• Customized company pension plan

How do things actually get done at Isar? Skills, tools, software that you should bring

New space companies have to somehow figure out how to build a rocket from scratch. That usually includes developing things virtually first, building up infrastructure, using low cost ways of manufacturing (aka: 3D printing) and then putting it all together to see whether it works in theory (simulations) and practice (launching rockets). To give you some idea of what tools Isar uses and what you should learn or experiment with, here is a list of some of the methods in use at the new space company:

Software and CAD (Computer Aided Design)

• SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD, Simulation Professional, Flow Simulation, Composer, Visualize and PDM Professional for building and simulating stuff virtually (experience with Autodesk’s Inventor helpful as well. fyi: SpaceX also used SOLIDWORKS when they started out)
• WSCAD for eletrical engineering
• PCB design with Altium

Simulation

• Ansys and INNEO simulation solutions
• Altair Hypermesh (experience with Optistruct or Nastran helpful as well)
• m+p vibPilot/vibRunner/vibMobile

Manufacturing and additive manufacturing

• Beckhoff TwinCAT3 for manufacturing automation
• 3DXpert, Materialise Magics or hyperMill (CMM software such as polyworks or Calypso also work)
• Working with machines such as Hermle C 42 U, EOS M 290 Metal Printers, AMCM, DMG Nori NXL 2000 / 500, Solukon depowdering machines and similar products

Business

• Office, MS Dynamics, SAP and DATEV
• Figma, Framer or Adobe XD for design works

Highlights: German Rocket Companies fighting German bureaucracy

During our research, we stumbled upon some “highlights” (or maybe “lowlights?”) of trying to build a rocket company in Germany. Let me quote you some of the restrictions and motions they had to go through so far. This one is just to be allowed to open up a gas generator test stand. I’m including the German words on purpose for “ze full effekt”:

Isar wanted to erect and operate a gas generator test stand (”Gasgeneratorprüfstand”) in Reischach, Bavaria. The test stand for gas turbines with a firing heat output (”Feuerungswärmeleistung”) of less than 200 megawatts is subject to the “law on air pollution control” (”Immissionsschutzrecht”). For this, they had to apply for an “air pollution control permit” under §§ 4 and 19 BImschG (“Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz“) in conjunction with §§ 1 para. 1, 2 para. 1 of the “Ordinance on plants requiring approval” (BImSchV – Verordnung zur Durchführung des Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetzes, not to be confused with the “BImschG”!). They also need it in conjunction with No. 10.15.2.2 Procedure type (V) of Annex 1 to the 4th BImschV. The original: “immissionsschutzrechtliche Genehmigung nach §§ 4, 19 Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz und Nr. 10.15.2.2 Verfahrensart (V) des Anhangs 1 zur 4. Verordnung zur Durchführung des Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetzes”.

Thankfully, in the run-up to the approval process, a site-specific preliminary examination of the individual case was carried out in accordance with § 7 para. 2 of the environmental impact assessment act UVPG (“Gesetz über die Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfung“) in conjunction with point 10.6.3 column 2 of Annex 1 to the UVPG (“§ 7 Abs. 2 Gesetzes über Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfung i. V. m. Ziffer 10.6.3 Spalte 2 der Anlage 1 zum Gesetz über die Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfung eine standortbezogene Vorprüfung des Einzelfalles“). The rough examination based on the “criteria of § 7 para. 2 sentence 3 UVPG in conjunction with Annex 3 to the UVPG” showed that – thankfully – the project has no significant negative impact on the environment that would need to be taken into account (§ 7 para. 2 sentence 5 UVPG). So it all worked out in the end.

Or, to put a picture in your head, it was about a permit for these little blue containers which make noise for a few seconds every once in a while on a workday:

Again, this was just the permit for the gas generator test stand, already situated around 75 kilometres away from their headquarter in Munich because Germany basically lacks any sort of non-populated areas. But of course, even with the permissions, there’ve been quite a few complaints and official petitions to cancel the test site.

Structured company information on Isar Aerospace SE

Updates on Isar Aerospace

• October 2026: orbit on the second flight, the Series D, the convertible bonds, the European Launcher Challenge contract, a public money table, the filed accounts for 2020 to 2024 with each audit opinion, the register facts of the SE, the board change, every first-flight date since 2019 and a comparison with other launchers.
• April 2023: Series C of EUR 155 million and the share register after it.

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