Payload Field Guide: European Launchers
Europe is firing on all fronts to stand up new launch capabilities, but the continent isn’t moving as fast as it might hope. The post Payload Field Guide: European Launchers appeared first on Payload.
Europe is firing on all fronts to stand up new launch capabilities, but the continent isn’t moving as fast as it might hope.
Across the region, a slew of relatively young launch startups are making headway developing their new launch vehicles, with many projecting debut launches in the coming year. Even outside of Europe, rocket progress is rarely linear. You have to crawl before you can walk, and despite progress, “crawl” best describes the current pace.
Here’s where Europe’s launch capabilities stand:
Not for nothing: Europe today has two demonstrated launch providers in Arianespace and Avio—both launching multiple times a year.
- Avio is scheduled to launch its next mission to orbit Sept. 14 from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana—carrying the European Commission’s Copernicus Sentinel-3C and ESA’s FLuorescence EXplorer (FLEX) sat. Avio is focused “entirely on scaling up operations and launch frequency out of the Guiana Space Centre,” according to a company spokesperson, and recently took over an integration building in Kourou to increase its future launch cadence.
- Avio is also scaling its development of a heavier-lift Vega-E configuration, powered by a newly developed MR-10 engine, which has passed “all the firing test\[s\] so far.”
- Arianespace notched a big win in February launching its heavy-lift Ariane 64 configuration for the first time. In June, Ariane 64 launched using Avio’s P160C solid rocket motor for the first time, “further enhancing the launcher’s performance,” according to an Arianespace spokesperson. Ariane 6 is scheduled to launch next on August 27.
- Arianespace’s parent company ArianeGroup is also developing Themis, ESA’s low-cost, reusable rocket system, and completed a wet dress rehearsal of the demo version of the rocket last week.
The race is on: After spending a year without launch capabilities following Ariane 5’s retirement in 2023, Europe started pushing hard to get more competition in the market. Last year, ESA unveiled its European Launcher Challenge, which set aside €902.2M in funds, not all of which are yet allocated, to five companies pursuing an orbital launch no later than 2027.
One of these startups has already bitten the dust: UK launcher Orbex entered into insolvency proceedings in February.
But for the rest of the challengers, progress is moving along at a two-steps-forward, one-step-back pace.
- Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) had its RFA ONE rocket on the pad at the UK’s SaxaVord Spaceport this month, preparing for its first flight when it encountered an issue that forced the company to de-stack its vehicle to investigate. RFA has yet to release the cause of the issue, or an updated timeline on its debut flight.
- Isar Aerospace found itself in a similar position in June, when it canceled its latest launch attempt after “detecting off-nominal behavior in the vehicle’s fluid systems,” according to an announcement. Isar is building its launch capacity in parallel, however, opening a new manufacturing HQ in Germany to produce up to 40 launchers per year, expanding testing operations at a site in Sweden, and signing a launch agreement with Maritime Launch Services to hold future flights in Nova Scotia, Canada.
- PLD Space is also building its capacity while awaiting its first flight. The Spanish launcher raised €210M this year—through a €180M Series C and €30M in venture debt from the European Investment Bank. The company is “nearing completion” of its launch site in Kourou, according to a spokesperson, and told Payload in March that it’s anticipating a debut launch in 2026, or early 2027.
- Maiaspace is trending in the same direction. The company has spent recent years developing and testing its tech in parallel to making investments to ramp production capacity. Maiaspace has begun construction on a factory in France to churn out components, targeting production to support 20 launches annually by 2032. Maiaspace will arrive at the pad a little later than its competition, but expects a first orbital launch of its Maia rocket in late 2027, according to a spokesperson.
Best of the rest: Europe’s launch ambitions, however, aren’t confined to the ELC competition. The region is home to more than a few launch startups marching their own paths to orbit.
In France, no less than four companies are working on launch vehicles not funded directly by ELC:
- HyPrSpace completed its fourth full-scale engine test campaign in June, and is targeting a debut launch of its Baguette One suborbital rocket before the end of the year. The orbital variant OB1 is expected to launch by late 2027, according to a spokesperson.
- Sirius Space Services was selected by CNES in June to occupy a vacancy at the Guiana Space Centre, where the company hopes to launch its first suborbital mission in 2027, according to a spokesperson.
- Alpha Impulsion is developing a unique autophage propulsion system, which it hotfired for the first time in 2025. Alpha is scaling this test engine up to a 150 kN version, which is targeting 500-kg-payload-class launches in the early 2030s, according to a spokesperson.
- The Exploration Company unveiled a new engine program—called Storm—in June, which is designed for reusable launcher concepts.
In the UK, two launchers are building outside of ELC:
- Skyrora landed its first launch license in August 2025 to fly from SaxaVord. The company is “in a queue process at the moment,” according to a spokesperson, but expects a first launch in 2027.
- Astron Systems is knee-deep in development. The company is producing its prototype engine, and turbopump systems, both of which it hopes to test in the next few months, according to CEO Eddie Brown.
Germany, despite funding two local ELC competitors, has at least one other launcher under development:
- HyImpulse “continues to make steady progress in advancing its proprietary hybrid propulsion technology,” according to a company spokesperson. HyImpulse is targeting a launch of its suborbital SR75 rocket this year.
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