53 minutes into the interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miZNkegpm5s the CEO of #RFA dares to guess that the first launch attempt of the #rocket RFA ONE from #SaxaVord should come 6 to 8 months from now - the recovery from the launch pad explosion last Augst has come along well.

A number of companies are working to become the first to launch satellites into space from European soil, with several planning on using #SaxaVord Spaceport. Germany’s #RFA is thought to have the most advanced plans https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/lanarkshire-scottish-north-lanarkshire-iceland-european-b1211534.html

Approval granted for #RocketFactory Augsburg (#RFA) to launch from #SaxaVord spaceport https://www.independent.co.uk/space/civil-aviation-authority-scottish-government-unst-one-scottish-b2680687.html

Engineers have identified a “very unusual” oxygen fire in a turbopump as the reason a rocket engine exploded during a test at the spaceport in Shetland earlier this week https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/unst-shetland-b2601194.html

The 30-second “hot fire test” intended to replicate the downward thrust required to get a rocket into #space - without anything actually taking off. The test had not gone according to plan . The #RFAOne is a 30m-tall, three-stage rocket that can deliver a 1,300kg payload to a sun-synchronous orbit around Earth https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg23r0p78go

German rocket start-up #RocketFactory Augsburg last week described #Ariane6 as “overpriced” , saying its development “at the #taxpayer’s expense has shown that something has to change” https://www.ft.com/content/2abdea1a-d985-4f25-90ee-af74524b736f

The United States of America's #PressFreedomIndex score fell from 71.22 in 2023 to 66.59 in 2024 moving it's ranking from 45th to 55th and pushing it's classification from "satisfactory" to "problematic". #NationalPublicRadio (#NPR) , #VoiceOfAmerica (#VOA), #RadioFreeEurope / #RadioLiberty (#RFERL), and #RadioFreeAsia (#RFA) have been removed as news sources.

#RFA at #SaxaVord #Spaceport https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw80qBV7LBc

At the end of 2022, the total funding secured by all #European launch startups since 2011 was €419 million. In 2023, that figure rose to €781 million, an 86% increase in the industry's total funding to date. In the first month and a half of 2024 alone, another €70.5 million has been added to that figure. With the addition of that early 2024 funding, the total comes to €850 million https://europeanspaceflight.substack.com/p/state-of-european-launch-startup

The #RFA One #rocket gets a full assembly and checkout testing in #Augsburg* before it will be shipped in around a dozen containers to #SaxaVord for the first #launch taking place this summer https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/unst-augsburg-falcon-uk-space-agency-b2486380.html

* https://graphhopper.com/maps/?point=Rocket+Factory+Augsburg

Missions on board the second test flight of #RFA ONE

• #MIDAS, #DLR Cologne
• #SPACEMAST #DLR Braunschweig
• #Platform9 #Endurosat
• #VIBESPioneer Hochschule #Bremen
• #PW3Sat3 University of #Warsaw
• #Flamingo #Vyoma
• #3Cat8 Universitat Politecnica De #Catalunya
• #MOVEBEYOND Technische Universität WARR

https://www.rfa.space/rfa-flies-eight-customers-second-flight/