Who Are the Twelve? A Closer Look at ESA’s Launcher Challenge
During a press conference at the Paris Air Show earlier this month, officials from the European Space Agency announced that 12 submissions had been received for the agency’s European Launcher Challenge call for proposals, which was published in March 2025. The agency did not, however, provide any insight into which companies had submitted proposals.
As some background, the European Launcher Challenge initiative was announced following an ESA Council meeting in November 2023. The initiative aims to foster the development of small launch capacities, with the long-term goal of providing a potential successor to Ariane 6. The Challenge will be split into two main components. The first will see the selected candidates provide launch services for ESA missions, and possibly other institutional missions, from 2026 to 2030. The second component involves a “launch service capacity upgrade demonstration” that requires the launch of an upgraded rocket by 2028. The total funding that each company is expected to receive is approximately €160 million, with allocations tied to specific development milestones.
Back to those 12 submissions. Europe currently has around 15 rocket developers that are in a position to deliver on a European Launcher Challenge proposal. These include ArianeGroup, Avio, Dark, HyImpulse, HyPrSpace, Isar Aerospace, Latitude, MaiaSpace, Opus Aerospace, Orbex, PLD Space, Rocket Factory Augsburg, Sidereus Space Dynamics, Sirius Space Systems, and Skyrora.
There are a few more potential contenders, such as Alpha Impulsion, but they are much earlier in their development cycle and are unlikely to meet the deadline of launching a successful demonstration mission by 2027, a precondition for consideration under the challenge. There is also Germany’s POLARIS Spaceplanes, which is developing a reusable spaceplane that, when paired with an expendable second stage, is expected to be capable of delivering up to 1,000 kilograms to orbit. However, the company appears to be pivoting toward defense applications and away from this configuration. They could still be a potential wild card.
ArianeGroup and Avio are also unlikely to have submitted proposals, given the initiative’s focus on emerging launch systems. That said, Avio could be another wild card, with a remote possibility that it proposes a reusable successor to Vega based on its new MR10 and MR60 liquid propulsion systems. As for ArianeGroup, any involvement in the initiative would likely come via its subsidiary, MaiaSpace
From the remaining list of possible contenders, French rocket builder Dark, speaking to European Spaceflight, confirmed that it did not submit its planned air-launched Interceptor rocket for consideration. Sidereus Space Dynamics likewise confirmed it did not submit a proposal, explaining that it is currently focused on other bids and tenders. Finally, Opus Aerospace also confirmed it will not be taking part.
So, from an initial pool of 15, we’re already down to 10… which is fewer than the 12 submissions ESA says it received. More on that later.
MaiaSpace, while noting that it was asked by ESA not to comment publicly on its involvement in the challenge, nonetheless hinted that it has put forward its two-stage Maia rocket for consideration. The ArianeGroup subsidiary is currently targeting a debut flight of the vehicle in the second half of 2026.
Despite seemingly being asked not to communicate about their involvement in the challenge, several companies did outright confirm their participation. Germany’s Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) confirmed its submission, with the next launch attempt of its RFA ONE rocket expected before the end of this year. The company’s first attempt ended abruptly after an anomaly during a hot fire test resulted in the destruction of the first stage intended for flight. The rest of the rocket remained unharmed and will be used for the second attempt. The company may also have submitted its RFA ONE MAX upgrade or a larger vehicle based on the heavy-lift reusable rocket it designed for ESA. This is, however, speculative.
Staying in Germany, Isar Aerospace confirmed its participation with its two-stage Spectrum rocket. It may also have included its Spectrum 2 upgrade in its submission for the second component of the challenge, although the company declined to share any details about its submission.
French rocket builder Latitude has also confirmed its participation in the European Launcher Challenge. While it did not share many details, the company reiterated that its focus remains on “small satellite launch services.” The inaugural flight of its two-stage Zephyr rocket is currently expected in Q2 or Q3 of 2026.
Another French rocket builder, Sirius Space Services, has also confirmed its involvement in the challenge. The company plans to conduct its Sirius 1B flight in 2026 and has submitted its larger Sirius 13 rocket for consideration, which it aims to debut in 2027.
In Spain, the country’s sole rocket builder has confirmed its involvement in the challenge. PLD Space stated that it has offered its MIURA 5 rocket for consideration, with a first launch currently planned for the first quarter of 2026. The company was the last prime to confirm its participation in the challenge in communication with European Spaceflight. This brings the total number of confirmed or near-certain prime submissions to six of the twelve reportedly received.
In addition to prime contractors, there was also an opportunity to speak with likely consortium participants. Two of the most likely consortium partners are Pangea Aerospace and The Exploration Company, both of which are developing propulsion systems for rockets being built by third parties.
Pangea Aerospace has explicitly confirmed its participation as part of a consortium but declined to name the consortium’s prime contractor. The Exploration Company, meanwhile, stated that it has not submitted an application as a prime and believes it is up to the lead contractor to make any announcements. This amounts to as close to a confirmation as one can get without actually giving one.
Spain’s Pangea Aerospace is unlikely to have entered into a consortium with the only other Spanish entrant, PLD Space, as PLD already has the propulsion system for MIURA 5. So, maybe they’ve teamed up with some other Spanish space giants like Sener and GMV?
In early 2023, Pangea Aerospace led a consortium formed to respond to a government call for proposals aimed at developing a sovereign small-satellite launch service. The call coincided with the formal approval by the Spanish government for the creation of the Spanish Space Agency. Although the consortium’s bid was ultimately unsuccessful, with PLD Space securing the full €40.5 million award, it may have been reformed to compete in the European Launcher Challenge. Having already made significant progress on the rocket’s propulsion system, the part of a launch vehicle generally accepted to take the longest to develop, the consortium could, potentially, deliver a new rocket within a relatively short timeframe.
The Exploration Company presents a more complex puzzle. The company is developing three distinct rocket engines: Mistral, Huracán, and Typhoon. Mistral is designed for use as a thruster, while Huracán is described by the company as its “lunar engine.” Typhoon, meanwhile, is a reusable, high-thrust, full-flow staged combustion engine capable of producing 200 tonnes of thrust, twice that of Prometheus, the reusable engine under development by ArianeGroup through an ESA contract.
Typhoon is significantly more powerful than anything else being developed by companies on this list, and possibly more powerful than any small launcher would reasonably require. This suggests the engine is likely intended for the second component of the European Launcher Challenge, the launch service capacity upgrade demonstration.
Predicting which companies The Exploration Company might be partnering with is difficult. The company has a significant presence in France and Germany, and a growing footprint in Italy. This gives it a long list of potential collaborators, ranging from emerging rocket builders to major space players, across three of Europe’s most established space powers.
In early January 2025, the UK Space Agency’s Director of Launch, Matthew Archer, described the United Kingdom’s participation in the European Launcher Challenge as “essential.” Archer added that the agency would work with ESA to ensure the “best possible UK proposals.” While this may be reading too much into the phrasing, the use of the plural “proposals” could hint at more than one submission from the UK.
The other UK-based rocket builder on the list of potential participants is Skyrora. While there has been no official announcement from the company regarding its involvement, Maksym Lutsyk, an engineering supervisor at Skyrora, revealed on LinkedIn that he represented the company at the European Launcher Challenge Industry Day toward the end of 2024. While not a full confirmation, this likely indicates that Skyrora did submit a proposal.
With the addition of the Orbex, Skyrora, and the Pangea Aerospace and The Exploration Company consortia, we’re up to ten of the twelve likely submissions.
The most likely two companies rounding out the list of twelve are HyImpulse, from Germany, and HyPrSpace, from France, both of which are, coincidentally, developing hybrid propulsion systems for their respective rockets.
HyPrSpace expects to conduct the first flight of its suborbital Baguette One demonstrator in the first half of next year. The company will then shift focus to the inaugural flight of its Orbital Baguette 1 (OB-1) launch vehicle, which is designed to deliver payloads of up to 235 kilograms to low Earth orbit. The debut of OB-1 is currently planned for the end of 2027.
HyImpulse, meanwhile, launched the first flight of its suborbital SR75 rocket in May 2024 from the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia. The company is now working toward the maiden flight of its three-stage SL1 rocket, which is expected to be capable of placing 600 kilograms into low Earth orbit. As of late 2024, the first SL1 launch was expected to take place in 2026.
Twelve stood, few will remain
Following the reveal that a total of 12 submissions had been received, ESA officials indicated that the number would be significantly reduced, with only a select few moving forward.
Unlike all other ESA initiatives, the European Launcher Challenge will not follow traditional geo-return rules. Typically, ESA uses its geo-return policy to ensure companies in member states receive contracts in proportion to their country's financial contribution to the agency. In this case, however, ESA will apply a “fair contribution” model.
This approach flips the traditional process, with ESA first selecting awardees through a competitive bidding process and only then asking member states to allocate funding based on the outcome. In doing so, companies selected through the challenge will have full freedom to shape their supply chains without being forced to farm out work to meet geographic return quotas. It does, however, mean that the resulting funding burden will likely fall entirely on each company’s host country. In cases like The Exploration Company, which has a broad geographic footprint, that burden could be distributed across multiple countries, a factor that may work in favour of the consortium that includes the company.
If one had to guess the likely recipients of European Launcher Challenge awards, Isar Aerospace, MaiaSpace, and Orbex would be at the top of the list. PLD Space could be a potential fourth, but with Spain already committing €40.5 million to the company, it’s unclear whether the government would be willing, or able, to reach into its pockets again.
Isar Aerospace is an obvious frontrunner, having secured more than €500 million in funding and already attempted the inaugural flight of its Spectrum rocket. While that first mission ended in failure, the company’s deep resources have allowed it to move quickly, with manufacturing of its second and third vehicles already well underway. This puts Isar in a strong position to complete a successful test flight well before the 2027 cutoff.
MaiaSpace, meanwhile, benefits from substantial financial and technological backing from its parent company, ArianeGroup, making it a formidable contender. Combined with Avio having regained full control of its small launch capabilities, there may be considerable political interest in ensuring that France maintains a strong presence among the final selections.
Although Orbex appears to have stagnated somewhat, the UK has placed significant emphasis on developing a sovereign launch capability and will likely be motivated to ensure that a company in which it holds a direct stake secures a place in the programme.
Contracts over funding
While countries may view the European Launcher Challenge through a funding lens, the initiative is, at its core, a test of whether Europe can evolve its institutional model to support true commercial competitiveness. The focus of the programme is not simply on financial support, but on contracts.
As part of the call for proposals published in March, ESA outlined that an agency mission launched under a European Launcher Challenge Component A contract would receive a 25% contribution from the programme, with the remaining cost covered by the ESA programme associated with that mission. This structure effectively grants successful candidates a pricing advantage when bidding for institutional launches.
That advantage could mark a turning point. Launch contracts would no longer flow reflexively to Europe’s two traditional primes, but instead would be contested on more competitive terms. For the selected companies, it offers a stable pipeline of missions, providing short- to medium-term certainty and laying the groundwork for long-term viability.
I'm skeptical about European small launcher companies, but this is a very exciting development in European space public procurement. Good to see steps to change the system!