Isar Aerospace to launch satellites from French Guiana starting in 2024

Isar Aerospace builds launch vehicles for small and medium-sized satellites. The new launch site will enable the start-up to expand its range of services.

Satellite start-up Isar Aerospace has been awarded a contract by the French space agency CNES to launch satellites in French Guiana. Starting in 2024, the Munich-based company will be able to commercially use the Diamond rocket launch site in Kourou to launch satellites into space for its customers.

Founded in 2018 by Daniel Metzler, Josef Fleischmann and Markus Brandl, the company manufactures launch vehicles for transporting small and medium-sized satellites. Isar Aerospace operates a test center in Esrange, Sweden, and has exclusive access to the continental European rocket launch site in Andøya, Norway.

The additional launch site in Guyana now allows the start-up to expand its offering. Due to its proximity to the equator, Isar Aerospace can now reach all orbits with the same launch pad. "By launching our launch vehicles from French Guiana, we are providing our customers with a higher launch cadence and even more flexible access to space," says Alexandre Dalloneau, who will lead operations at the new site as Vice President Mission and Launch Operations. "We are pleased to further strengthen our European partnerships and contribute to strategic access to space for Europe." The decision to open the Diamond launch site to additional launch service providers is another step toward an independent European space system. Just recently, the Russian Soyuz launch vehicle ceased operations in French Guiana.