Isar Aerospace has won the European Commission’s EIC Horizon Prize “Low-Cost Space Launch” and has received 10 million euros in prize money.
The European Commission’s award was given to Isar Aerospace for their launch service solution using ‘Spectrum,’ a two-stage launch vehicle that offers flexible and cost-efficient access to space for small and medium-sized satellites and constellations.
The formal prize announcement was made during the 14th European Space Conference in Brussels on January 25, 2022, with European Commissioner Thierry Breton handing over a check of 10 million euros to Daniel Metzler, CEO and Co-Founder of Isar Aerospace, who said, “I am beyond proud! Winning the EIC Horizon Prize is not only a great success for the Isar Aerospace team and a proof of what we have already achieved, but it is also a vote of trust by the European Commission.”
The European Commission’s EIC Horizon Prize “Low-Cost Space Launch” is a funding opportunity in the frame of the Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation Program under the European Innovation Council Pilot, which aims to identify and support breakthrough technologies and game changing innovations that create new markets and can be scaled up internationally.
Isar Aerospace received the highest cumulative score for the award criteria of “excellence, technical implementation, and service sustainability of the solution.” With its mature solution, the company prevailed over the other two nominated finalists. The prize money of 10 million euros will be used to further invest in research and development capabilities as well as in test and launch infrastructure.
