Rocket Factory Augsburg slips RFA ONE inaugural flight to 2027

Rocket Factory Augsburg announced on 3 November that its RFA ONE rocket will make its inaugural flight from a Scottish launch facility in 2027.

The revised target appeared in a LinkedIn post after a visit from Walther Pelzer, Director General of the German Space Agency at DLR. The company said it shares the expectation for a successful first flight in 2027. RFA has not set a more precise launch window beyond the 2027 target. It described 2027 as the objective it is rallying behind on its RoadtoLaunch campaign.

The 3 November statement marked the first time RFA publicly acknowledged a 2027 target since the rocket was de-stacked for investigation. RFA had previously been preparing for a summer inaugural flight after delivering stages to SaxaVord in March. Testing problems pushed the date back from that earlier summer plan.

On 28 July, RFA said a testing problem required de-stacking the vehicle at SaxaVord in Shetland, Scotland, for investigation and possible corrective action without disclosing the issue’s nature. The company was testing the rocket on the launch pad when the fault appeared. RFA announced no revised launch date at the time.

The issue led to losing a five-week launch window set to begin on 10 August. RFA had stacked the vehicle on the launch pad in July for a planned first-stage static fire test before the problem arose.

The company said in March it had delivered the stages to the Scottish spaceport with the debut targeted for summer. Teams completed full integration and stacking of the vehicle on the launch pad in July ahead of the static fire test of the first stage. This stacking work followed the March delivery of the stages to the Scottish spaceport.

OHB holds a 65.1% stake in RFA. Marco Fuchs leads OHB as chief executive officer. Chief Executive Officer Marco Fuchs said on an earnings call on 6 August that the first test flight remained planned for later that year. Fuchs explained that the rocket was back in the integration hall for engineers to re-examine its tanks and would return to the pad soon.

He made the remarks while discussing the vehicle’s status after the July testing problem.

Fuchs acknowledged that further delays could happen. He said the rocket would be re-erected soon but noted that launching rockets sometimes involves detours. Onebnclub reports that Fuchs initially aimed for a 2024 launch while acknowledging possible further delays during that same 6 August earnings call, where he discussed the rocket’s return to the integration hall for tank inspection.

Earlier setbacks include an August 2024 static-fire test of the first stage involving all nine Helix engines that ended in an explosion, destroying the stage and harming the launch mount at the Scottish spaceport. Replacement stages returned to SaxaVord earlier in 2026 after further testing in Germany and at Sweden’s Esrange Space Center.

In January, RFA became the first company to obtain a UK Civil Aviation Authority launch licence for a location outside Europe’s Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. Orbex shifted its launch plans to Shetland in 2024 before entering administration earlier in 2026, complicating SaxaVord’s path to orbit.

RFA remains the leading candidate for SaxaVord’s first orbital launch, while HyImpulse prepares a suborbital test flight from the site later in 2026. Growing global demand for launch capacity from satellite constellations, planned orbital data centres and defence agencies is driving the UK, Europe and Canada to seek independent sovereign launch capability. The pressure comes as space systems face geopolitical pressures and customers want faster turnaround times.