POLARIS Spaceplanes Secures €5.4M in Funding
Bremen, Germany - based aerospace start-up, POLARIS Spaceplanes, has obtained €5.4 million in additional funding through a top-up to its recent seed round.
Founded in 2019, POLARIS Spaceplanes is developing a space launch and reusable multipurpose spaceplane and hypersonic transport system named Aurora. This spaceplane, combined with an expendable upper stage, is intended to deliver payloads of up to 1,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit. Flight operation is planned to begin in 2028.
The German Aerospace Center DLR developed the spaceplane Aurora based on over 30 years of research. Aurora’s blend of aircraft and rocket technologies is intended to provide economical and safe access to space. POLARIS’ reusable spaceplanes launch and land horizontally from airports, providing quicker turnaround, lower costs, and minimal ground infrastructure compared to traditional vertical-launch systems. Furthermore, Aurora offers a multi-mission capability not typically seen in spaceflight. Unlike traditional small launchers that mainly serve the small satellite launch market, Aurora can address at least five different use cases, catering to a broader customer base and larger market.
On 13 June, the company announced the completion of a top-up to its seed funding round. The extension was co-led by Capnamic Ventures Bremen and Spacewalk VC, with contributions from Dienes Holding and E2MC Ventures. With the additional €5.4 million, POLARIS has raised a total of €12.4 million in funding to date.
The company stated that the new funding will be used to bring its first commercial product to market and pre-fund upcoming customer contracts. POLARIS reports customer contracts so far of over 10 million Euros.
Since its establishment, POLARIS has been developing progressively larger prototypes to validate key technologies and operational concepts. The company is currently working on two demonstrators, MIRA II and MIRA III. Each vehicle measures around five metres in length and is equipped with jet turbines for takeoff and landing, as well as one of the company’s AS-1 aerospike rocket engines for hypersonic flight.
In November 2024, the company completed the first in-flight ignition of its aerospike engine, integrated into the MIRA II demonstrator. The LOX/kerosene-fuelled AS-1 rocket engine can produce approximately 1 kN of thrust.
In addition to ongoing testing of its MIRA II and MIRA III demonstrators, the company is also developing in-flight refueling capabilities to extend the range and increase the payload capacity of its Aurora system. POLARIS has already conducted several flights with its ALEDA and Mini MIRA II demonstrators, focusing on close-proximity formation flying. In early May, the company announced that it was preparing for its first docking experiments.
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