Show me the euros (3/28/23)

Good morning. Thanks to all the dedicated Payload readers out there who participated in Mars Madness last week! The competition was steep, but we’re glad to announce that the winner is…

*drumroll please…*

Mars 2020! The joint mission that brought Martian BFFs Perseverance and Ingenuity to the Red Planet’s surface took home 60% of the vote in the final against Mars Pathfinder. It was a battle well fought, but as one of you so eloquently put it, it’s “hard to beat a helicopter.”

And while we’ve got your attention, a quick programming note: There won’t be a new episode of Pathfinder this week. We’ll have an edition of our newsletter for your ears ready next Tuesday.

In today's edition...🚀 Isar Aerospace’s Series C 💰 India’s commercial potential🔁 On the move 

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Isar Closes €155M Series C Funding Round

German launch startup Isar Aerospace has closed a €155M ($167.3M) Series C funding round. The company has now raised over €300M ($323.9M) and is fully funded up to and beyond its first flight.

With this latest round of funding, Isar cements its position as the most well-funded European launch startup. The next most successful is Orbex with just over €114M ($123M). Orbex is also the only other European launch startup to have raised more than €100M ($107.9M).

Isar is developing its 28m Spectrum launch vehicle, which is designed to carry up to 1,000-kg payloads to LEO. The rocket is expected to make its maiden flight in 2023 from Andøya Spaceport in Norway.

Key players: The company's Series C was backed by newcomers 7-Industries Holding and Bayern Kapital via its ScaleUp Fund, in addition to existing investors Earlybird Venture Capital, HV Capital, Lakestar, Lombard Odier, Porsche SE, UVC Partners, and Vsquared Ventures. Porsche SE and HV Capital will, as a result of their contributions to the round, join Isar's advisory board with 7-Industries Holding joining in an observer capacity. 

Isar plans to utilize the funding to continue work towards its inaugural flight, ramp up production, and build on the company's automated production capabilities. It will also apply them towards the development of currently undisclosed new initiatives and products.

More than $$: In addition to its success securing funding, Isar has been equally successful securing customers. According to the company, its first year of operational flight is already fully booked. 

In January, the company landed its first US customer with Spaceflight, Inc. signing on for a dedicated Spectrum flight in 2026. The contract included a provision for a second Spectrum flight in 2025.

The company also recently revealed that it has already completed 124 hot first tests of its Aquila rocket engine over the past 12 months. Nine of the engines will power Spectrum’s first stage while a single vacuum-optimized Aquila engine will power its second stage.

Reading the tea leaves: Isar appears to be well on its way to being a successful launch company. However, if the first few months of 2023 have taught us anything, it's that developing a brand-new rocket is no easy task. Only time will tell if Isar can successfully execute a maiden flight where others have failed.

ISRO’s OneWeb Launch Shows Commercial Potential

An Indian rocket launched and deployed 36 OneWeb satellites on Sunday, marking the Indian Space Research Organisation’s second commercial launch for the UK firm.

ISRO’s fleet of rockets will first and foremost give India independence from foreign launchers. But it will also offer new commercial opportunities, as shown by the OneWeb launch.

How did ISRO bag OneWeb contracts? Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022 terminated OneWeb’s launch arrangement with Roscosmos, which had already launched 428 satellites for the company aboard Soyuz rockets. India seized the opportunity by offering OneWeb prioritized rides to meet the company’s urgent need. The OneWeb constellation now stands at 618, more than the minimum of 588 satellites it says it needs to provide low-latency broadband communication services globally over the coming months.

New Space India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of the Indian space agency, helped ISRO win two OneWeb contracts at $60M per launch—just under the $67M price tag for a dedicated Falcon 9 launch.

India’s commercial future: The biggest holdup to India’s commercial success is launch frequency. India can produce a Launch Vehicle Mark 3, also known as a GSLV Mk III, every six to eight months. NSIL and ISRO want to cut that in half by 2025. But even when coupled with increased production rates of the PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) and SSLV (Small Satellite Launch Vehicle), the country has no plans to launch as often as the Falcon 9.

India’s rocket family: ISRO has successfully launched the Mk III six times. At ~6,000 kg each, the two OneWeb payloads were the heaviest ever carried on an Indian rocket. ISRO is also working on increasing the rocket's payload capacity as it becomes India’s more capable platform complementary to its workhorse, medium-lift PSLV.

The PSLV has launched 348 satellites for 36 countries since its first commercial launch in 1999. To keep the vehicle relevant amid increasing global launch competition, NSIL awarded a $104 million contract in September to a consortium of major PSLV contractors to have fully industry-built PSLVs for increased production rates and reduced prices.

At the same time, ISRO's new modular SSLV rocket is set to enter the cut-throat smallsat market at a lower price point and with quicker turnaround, aiming to ramp up to 10 launches a year by 2026.

When people are the payload: ISRO is also human-rating the Mk III to launch astronauts by mid-decade for the Gaganyaan program, which would make the rocket more reliable. ISRO Chief S. Somanath said in a post-launch briefing that the rocket used for Sunday’s OneWeb launch featured the use of upgraded solid rocket boosters with increased performance and margins. These boosters are being tested for future Gaganyaan flights.

In Other News

• Virgin Orbit's capital raise, led by investor Matthew Brown, fell through, according to a CNBC report. 

• UAE's deal to send its Rashid II rover on China’s Chang’e 7 lunar mission fell through after running into ITAR restrictions. 

• Boeing and NASA will provide an update on Wednesday about the long-delayed crewed Starliner flight.

• Space Command chief backed the military’s IndoPacific wishlist. 

• The SBIRS GEO-6 satellite was formally transferred to Space Operations Command on March 24, Space Systems Command announced Monday.

• Five planets—Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus—will align in the night sky tonight.

• Captain Kirk is pissed he has to pay for Twitter’s blue check. Stars–they’re just like us!

The View from Space

ispace’s HAKUTO-R mission sent back pics of the moon after successfully entering lunar orbit last week.