Medium by Yisela Alvarez Trentini 9/16/2020
A new rocket has entered production this week: The “Spectrum,†created by Munich-based Isar Aerospace Technologies. The launch is expected to take place at the end of 2021 when the spaceship will deploy satellite constellations (tens or hundreds or even thousands of satellites) up to space using 3D printed engines.
German startup Isar Aerospace Technologies was founded in 2018 with funding from Airbus and Susanne Klatten, among others, and is run by 28-year old Daniel Metzler.
The company wants to make space access affordable and sustainable and set the tone for the next decades of space transportation. They plan to use rockets like the Spectrum to launch satellites and satellite constellations in an extremely flexible and low-cost manner. Something that would have normally taken years to achieve could now happen in months.
In a competitive aerospace market, Isar is differentiating themselves by using a revolutionary way of producing rockets: Their Munich production facility has three large 3D printers that can work on three Spectrum vehicle launchers at the same time. Their second stage Aquila VAC engines also offer something no other can: the deployment of satellites across different orbital planes.
More:
https://medium.com/@Yisela/german-startup-takes-on-spacex-with-spectrum-rocket-to-launch-2021-8c705b2402be
