Rocket Factory Augsburg

Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) is a German NewSpace launch company founded in 2018 as a spin-off of the space group OHB SE. Headquartered in Augsburg, Germany, it was established by Jörn Spurmann, Stefan Brieschenk, Hans Steiniger and Marco Fuchs, and OHB remains its majority shareholder. The company's stated ambition is to industrialise rocket production - 'building rockets like cars' - to lower the cost of orbital access.

RFA's flagship vehicle is RFA ONE, a three-stage small-lift launch vehicle designed to carry up to roughly 1,300 kg to low Earth and Sun-synchronous orbits. It is powered by RFA's in-house Helix engines, which use an oxygen-rich staged-combustion kerolox cycle, and tops out with a 'Redshift' orbital transfer stage for precise multi-orbit payload deployment. Its primary orbital launch site is SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands, Scotland.

As of 2026 RFA has not yet reached orbit. A full first-stage static fire test in August 2024 ended in an anomaly that destroyed the stage and damaged the launch mount, delaying the maiden flight. After rebuilding the stage and securing a UK launch licence, RFA delivered the first and second stages to SaxaVord in early 2026 and is preparing its first orbital test flight, targeted for summer 2026. It was also pre-selected as one of the winners of ESA's European Launcher Challenge.