Reflex Aerospace Gears up towards First Commercial Mission by Booking Slot for First Rocket Launch

Berlin/Munich, May 1, 2023 – Just on time for the company’s second anniversary, Reflex Aerospace is gearing up on its course towards its first commercial space mission: The Berlin and Munich-based space start-up has firmly booked a rocket launch slot for its demo satellite. The launch is set to take place in fall 2024 on a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX. The goal of this mission is to validate new technologies in space for the first time. The demo satellite, which weighs around 120 kilograms, is currently under development and will be assembled in Munich. The production line there will open later this year.

These steps are supported by an expansion of the so-called seed financing by a further 1.75 million euros (to a total of nearly 9 million euros). In addition to increases from existing investors, the French Starburst Accelerator – one of the most renowned incubators for aerospace start-ups – is joining the group of shareholders. With the expected arrival of commercial orders, seed funding is expected to increase further.

Walter Ballheimer, CEO of Reflex Aerospace, welcomed the latest development: “As a new space start-up, we are naturally eager to demonstrate the performance of our technologies directly in space. Therefore, we are very pleased that this milestone now comes within reach with our first firm rocket launch slot. The increase in our financing confirms our investors’ confidence in this goal. Driven by this tailwind, we are pushing ahead with the construction of our first production line, which we will open in Munich in the second half of 2023. In addition, we are fully on track to almost double our workforce across all sites to around 50 employees in 2023.”

Reflex Aerospace was founded in 2021. The Berlin and Munich-based NewSpace start-up aims to modernise the market with high-performance satellites tailored to individual needs. Through software-based operations and service-oriented offers, the company meets the needs of its customers faster, at a significantly lower cost and more flexibly than established NewSpace manufacturers today. Together with its partner companies Mynaric, Isar Aerospace and SES, Reflex Aerospace is a shareholder in the joint venture UNIO, which aims to build a European satellite constellation for broadband internet.