The investment of RFA (Rocket Factory Augsburg) in Portugal, already announced earlier this year, was made official with the inauguration of the offices in Matosinhos and the signing of an agreement with AICEP and CEIIA, on the 30th of June.
Over the next three years, the consortium of the German company, CEiiA and AICEP will invest nine million euros in the creation of a center for space micro-launchers in Portugal, which will allow RFA to place payloads in orbit, supporting their rocket ONE.
The goal is to produce a set of three primary structures for micro-launchers: the Payload Fairing (PF), the Kick Stage (KS), including the structures to support a propulsion system, and the Separation Interface Flanges (SIF) that connect the different stages of the vehicle.
In an official statement, RFA indicates that this “newly formed product engineering and manufacturing partnership with Portugal will provide a competitive edge to RFA’s business case and catalyze the launch vehicle development. Through the expansion of the development team to Portugal, RFA increases its European footprint leverage the broad talent pool as well as development capabilities in Europe”.
RFA’s operations will be headquartered in Matosinhos and will also pass through the Azores Region, where they intend to create a new site for the launches.
For Portugal, in addition to an investment that brings several benefits to the economy, it is a milestone that allows the Portuguese space sector to take a step forward in its international position, demonstrating that there is the capacity and competence to receive larger projects and work within the entire product lifecycle.