Tank problem delays first RFA launch

WASHINGTON — The majority owner of Rocket Factory Augsburg is still confident the company will conduct its first orbital launch attempt this year despite a setback in testing.

RFA had been working toward a first launch of its RFA ONE rocket from SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands as soon as Aug. 10, based on notices published by the spaceport. This will be the first flight of the small launch vehicle, capable of placing about half a metric ton into orbit.

However, the company announced July 28 it “encountered an issue with the vehicle” during testing on the pad that requires engineers to destack the vehicle. RFA did not disclose details about the problem or how long it expected the investigation to take. However, the spaceport has canceled the five-week launch window in August and September that it had reserved for the flight.

In an Aug. 6 earnings call, Marco Fuchs, chief executive of OHB, the German aerospace company that owns 65% of RFA, said engineers needed to “examine the tanks” of the rocket.

“There was a problem with the tank, and this was uncertain, so the team decided to take a look into this,” he said. “They took the rocket back into the hangar and opened up the tank.”

He didn’t elaborate on the tank issue with the rocket, but said engineers “wanted to make sure that they fully understand what the data showed” from testing. “There’s a big team up there trying to figure that one out and put it together and hopefully put it back on the pad as quick as possible.”

He said he expected the rocket to be back on the pad soon, but didn’t offer a more precise schedule. “The first test flight is still planned for later this year,” he said. “We’re hopeful that these last remaining challenges will be fulfilled in the next foreseeable days and weeks.”

RFA is one of four remaining companies that secured funding from the European Space Agency through its European Launcher Challenge last year. The company received 187 million euros ($216 million) through the competition, and OHB said the company received an initial installment of 30 million euros.

Part of the funds will support an upgrade of the rocket, called RFA ONE Block 2, projected to make its first flight in 2028. The Block 2 will increase the rocket’s payload performance to 1.5 metric tons with upgraded engines. The rocket’s first stage will also be recoverable and eventually reusable.

Ariane 6 VA269 — An Ariane 64 with upgraded solid rocket boosters lifts off June 17 carrying 36 Amazon Leo satellites. Credit: ESACNESArianespaceArianeGroupOptique Vidéo du CSG–T. Leduc

Increased Ariane flight rate

Fuchs also used the call to express support for increasing the flight rate of Europe’s flagship launch vehicle, the Ariane 6. That rocket has flown three times so far this year, with a fourth launch planned for late August carrying a Eumetsat weather satellite.

Arianespace, the operator of the Ariane 6, has said that it has the capacity to perform 9 to 10 launches a year, but an increase beyond that would require investments in both production facilities and the launch site.

In June, ESA officials said they are studying potential infrastructure upgrades to allow those higher flight rates. That study is examining scenarios of 12, 15 and 20 Ariane 6 launches annually to develop cost and schedule estimates for the needed infrastructure improvements.

OHB is interested in any increase in the Ariane 6 flight rate since it is a supplier to the vehicle through its MT Aerospace subsidiary, which produces structures for the rocket for the prime contractor, ArianeGroup.

“We are discussing this with ArianeGroup,” Fuchs said. “We might see in the second half of this year quite some discussions on this because, looking at, for example, all the German space programs that are intended to be implemented.”

He argued that increasing Ariane’s launch rate was essential to meet increased European civil and defense ambitions in space, something that can’t be served just by introducing new small launch vehicles.

“Ariane has to ramp up, I hope. I am saying this not as a supplier in MT Aerospace, but I am saying this as a user, as a customer,” he said. “We need more Ariane, and I hope the political system around Ariane, between the European Space Agency but also the member states of ESA, will produce a way forward so the capacity will be increased.”