Schwechat, 12 June 2026, The first commercial satellite mission from Austria was presented today at Vienna Airport. With the mission "IOD-01 | AT-Astra" R-Space introduced the first commercial satellite developed and manufactured entirely in Austria. The launch is scheduled for autumn 2026 with the third flight of ISAR Aerospace's Spectrum rocket from the spaceport in Andøya, Norway. R-Space is supported by ESA Phi-Lab Austria, Europe's first ESA Phi-Lab.
"Today, space history is being written in Austria and Lower Austria is reaching for the stars," said Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner. "This mission makes visible what is possible when research, innovation, entrepreneurship and international cooperation come together.”
The satellite mission is much more than a technical milestone, it is a platform for innovation. "Three companies are testing new technologies under real conditions in space: Enpulsion from Lower Austria is testing the behaviour of liquid indium as a fuel for electric satellite propulsion, SunBooster is testing a novel photovoltaic technology in orbit and the Portuguese company Synopsis Planet is testing a system for detecting space debris," explained Mikl-Leitner.
Today's presentation is also a strong signal for Lower Austria as a business and technology location, the Governor explained, "because satellites are gaining in importance not only technologically, but also economically and strategically for Austria and Europe." They are essential for communication, weather observation and data-based applications. It is therefore important for Lower Austria to anchor competence, production and entrepreneurial implementation in these key technologies at the location, "and for Europe that such developments take place on our continent and not only in the USA or Asia."
Projects like this also contribute to the goals of the Economic Strategy 2030+, she explained. The aerospace industry is one of the key industries that Lower Austria relies on "in order to grow economically in times of international competition and to create new, promising jobs." A central project is the establishment of the international space hub at Vienna Airport, "with the aim of positioning Lower Austria as an international space hub for high-tech start-ups and technology-driven value creation," said Mikl-Leitner. With its international connections, infrastructure and proximity to research and industry, the airport offers the ideal conditions for bringing founders, companies and investors together. "In this way, we are creating an innovation ecosystem in which new technologies can be developed more quickly and successfully implemented on the market."
R-Space CEO and founder Carsten Scharlemann spoke about the importance of the mission for the Austrian space sector: "With the IOD-01 mission, we are showing that commercial space missions from Austria are possible. From the very beginning, our goal was to make access to space faster, more economical and more technologically independent."
Alexander Reissner, CEO of ENPULSION, underlined the importance of the infrastructure that R-Space offers companies like his. "We are very much looking forward to our first joint mission with the experimental payload OOBI, which will study the behaviour of indium – the fuel of ENPULSION FEEP propulsion systems – under microgravity conditions," he said.
Christoph Zwettler of SunBooster said that this mission marks a next important step on the company's path, "which began 15 years ago with a small solar bag and now extends into Earth’s orbit." The aim of the mission is to make solar technology lighter, more robust and more cost-efficient.
Paulo Gordo, CEO of Synopsis Planet, expressed his gratitude in his statement for the opportunity to participate in this mission: "We are a young company from Portugal, only five years old, and with this mission we are launching our first product on the market."
About R-Space
R-Space was founded in 2021 by space researchers Carsten Scharlemann, Christof Obertscheider and Wolfgang Treberspurg. The goal: to make access to space easier, faster and more economical. The three founders have more than 40 years of combined experience in the development of space technologies. In the first few years, the company focused on the development of its now patented satellite concept. At the end of 2024, R-Space was able to win the first contracts from the European Space Agency (ESA) for the development of satellites, thus completing the successful transition from research to a commercial space company. Today, R-Space is part of the growing Austrian space ecosystem and is located in the Space Hub at Vienna Airport. There, a team of ten highly qualified employees develops and tests innovative satellite systems for national and international customers on an area of around 150 square meters.
