The German launch service provider Isar Aerospace has joined the RIT2021 space development program and plans to expand its operations in the Kiruna space cluster in northern Sweden over the coming years with the help of Luleå University of Technology and other RIT2021 partners.

Isar Aerospace, the leading European launch service provider focusing on small and medium satellite deployment headquartered in Munich, Germany, has recently completed the build-up of a test location and established a subsidiary in Kiruna to test and develop rocket engines for launching satellites into orbit.

– To develop our rocket engines we need to perform tests on a regular basis. The well-developed infrastructure and large, unpopulated impact area around Esrange Space Centre provides us with ideal conditions for testing and potentially launching rockets. We currently have 15 employees at Esrange and are looking to raise that figure in the next few years, says Josef Fleischmann, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Isar Aerospace.

There is an increasing commercial interest in launching satellites worldwide and the space industry is expanding rapidly, both commercially and academically.

– Isar Aerospace is dedicated to developing modern and sustainable rocketry. Entering a partnership with the regional space development program RIT2021 and initiating a major research collaboration together with Luleå university of Technology helps us reach this target, says Josef Fleischmann.

Isar Aerospace and Luleå University of Technology have started work on a new rocket engine test rig at Esrange Space Centre, with capacity to simulate close-to-realistic conditions for launch vehicles. The rig will provide unique opportunities to improve the performance of rocket engines and serve as a facility for testing sustainable rocket propellants.

Isar Aerospace joins RIT2021

By joining RIT2021 Isar Aerospace becomes an integrated member of the northern Sweden space ecosystem together with major actors such as Luleå University of Technology, the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and the Swedish Space Corporation, as well as other space companies, startups and business supporting actors like LTU Business, the European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre and Aerospace Cluster Sweden.

– We are proud and excited to have Isar Aersospace join the RIT2021 family. With them onboard we can grow and develop our space ecosystem further, contribute with more critical research results and new technology to the space industry, while also boosting growth and creating new job opportunities in the Norrbotten region in northern Sweden, says Johanna Bergström Roos, project manager for RIT2021.

World-leading space research

The new partnership supports Luleå University of Technology’s ambition of producing world-leading space research results. The University intends to use laser diagnostics to produce research data and insights vital to the development of Isar Aerospace’s rockets.

–  The Space Systems Group at Luleå University of Technology is committed to supporting Isar Aerospace’s ambition and activities, both through education, involving students at MSc level via internships and projects, and research, involving scientific staff and PhD students. Our strategy is based on conducting experiments aimed at improving fuel-efficiency and reducing emissions. The deep insight needed from these rocket engine test runs will be provided with unique laser diagnostics, says Alexis Bohlin, professor at Luleå University of Technology.