RFA - Stainless steel, reusability and staged combustion. A German SpaceX? EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Few space enthusiasts have heard of this company, but they are about to take the SmallSat industry by storm!
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Rocket Factory Augsburg
www.rfa.space/

[@robertobruselas3952]

Excellent video content about RFA, Rocket Factory Augsburg. That kind of startups we need in Europe. Obviously, they have learned a lot from those who failed. It's time for Europe to shift to private funding instead of taxpayers. European SpaceX fan.

[@harmonyspaceagency1743]

This content is something I don't get from other space channels. Makes you a good part of the space youtube ecosystem

[@ph11p3540]

Excellent reporting and deep research Angry. Very generous of that COO to take time out of his very busy day to explain the nuts and bolts of his rocket to us. You clearly got pull in the rocket industry.

[@rfa_space]

Hi Jordan, thanks for the great interview! We hope we could explain a bit what we do and why and how we see the current industry. Keep up the good work!

[@BirdEyePT]

that intro music, such a staple

[@galacticalliance4801]

im so happy you left a link in the description to their official site, was having a hard time finding it in search results for some reason...

[@swissbiggy]

Great interview, I'm really looking forward to the progress RFA certainly is gonna make. Bravo !!

[@scottthomas6202]

Another great interview, and it was certainly polite of him to take the time out of his day to explain their plans. Leaving space cleaner than you found it... definitely an admirable goal. More power to them!

[@MCRgamerOfficial]

Its inevitable that other launch providers will be looking at what SpaceX do and taking the ideas that work.

[@harmonyspaceagency1743]

and improve on them hopefully

[@Zacharysharkhazard]

@Ben Dover stop being racist you old man, the Chinese are using the wealth of knowledge from previous space agencies to try and catch up. That’s what they’re doing. If we did that you would be praising the fuck out of us. Shut the fuck up, would you?

[@swissbiggy]

@Ben Dover Meanwhile in the US one on three lawsuits is about theft of technology or intellectual property. I guess the Chinese learned it from the best ?

[@3373just]

@@Zacharysharkhazard "woke" has come to mean common decency where I'm from, what kind of psychopath is against that?!?😂

[@the_real_iceman]

@@Zacharysharkhazard exactly. I wonder where the technology came from that got us to the moon.

[@Ca1nxd]

I have been following RFA for a while now, I am really interested to see whether they will succeed or not!

[@steveperreira5850]

Actually, I hope they succeed. But I think it is naïve to think that you can hire people from all over the world and your ideas will not be stolen. Think “ China”. …. Hire Chinese nationals and guaranteed, absolutely guaranteed, everything they can steal they will steal. …. And it will go right back to China and they will put you out of business.

[@Ca1nxd]

@@steveperreira5850 Yes, I have heard of that

[@pantta567]

As a student going into aerospace I really appreciate these kinds of videos about lesser known companies. I think I might send them an application soon.

[@rfa_space]

Do it! We are always looking for new talents to develop, build and launch our RFA ONE :)

[@pantta567]

@@rfa_space I sent an application for propulsion test engineer internship and was almost instantly rejected. Didn't give me a reason. Well, maybe next year...

[@stuartbrown1677]

Really enjoyed this Thank you Stuart in Ireland

[@spencerjensen1993]

love the interviews!!!! thanks keep them coming please!!

[@tarkajedi3331]

What an excellent interview. Love the inside baseball of this exciting industry...

[@carsongbaker]

I think this was your best interview yet Jordan, will done!

[@JackWaldbewohner]

Jordan, you hit anotehr home run! Wow and I am dazzled!!!!!!!!

[@obesetuna3164]

I only hope that these European/UK private space efforts can come to fruition.

[@harmonyspaceagency1743]

Yes, I'm optimistic

[@DJ1573]

The german government is putting out big cash for promising start-ups and thanks to our universitys there should ne enough engineers

[@eduardxirinachs3985]

Very interesting interview, thanks for this alternative rocket information Angry Astronaut!

[@mauric_2271]

very interesting👍 Go Germany 🇩🇪 Maybe the Rocket from RFA is like a Mercedes Benz one day 😅👍

[@wiregold8930]

As long as it's not like VW ... 🤢

[@mauric_2271]

@@wiregold8930 VW is also a good brand:D better than all us brands together haha

[@rocroc]

Go Germany? The 50 - 80 million people who lost their lives in WW2 would tell you otherwise.

[@mauric_2271]

@@rocroc than USA is the worst country in the wholesome World if you take a look in the past little boy

[@mauric_2271]

GOOOOOOOOO GERMANY 🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪

[@tobihaifisch7558]

Yes, they can do more there in Augsburg than just puppets on strings! 😄

[@tarkajedi3331]

Nothing wrong with emulating SpaceX and standing on their shoulders.... It all adds to our total knowledge and capabilities!

[@juan.2438]

Did you know about PLD Space and Pangea Aerospace?, they are Spanish rocket companies

[@TheAngryAstronaut]

Yes. I have lots of work to do on European launch providers!

[@juan.2438]

@@TheAngryAstronaut 😆

[@whisthpo]

Another Quality interview!👌

[@hiredgun05]

I will be looking for this company for a small stock investment in the next couple weeks. They have my attention!!!

[@tonyschnabel]

I love the idea that he is cleaning up LEO, and able to hire the best talent worldwide, my only criticism is please stop using the word basically all the time, however his English is a lot better than my German.

[@nicosmind3]

Y su inglés es mejor que mi español

[@rache_deratom-roboter2458]

@@nicosmind3 你的西班牙语比谷歌的中文好

[@Roguescienceguy]

Funny comment when it comes from someone with a quintessential German lastname 😆

[@Matched32Gaming]

I love the daily content

[@buster105e]

Brilliant content. I can't understand why some people are moaning about audio, the quality was fine, I could understand perfectly what was being said, I think those that complained possibly had more issue with his German accent than the audio. I really hope RFA are successful, its an exciting time for space but my worry is the market is very quickly going to become saturated. Of all these start ups out there I think only 10 - 20% of them will be successful. Unfortunately for RFA it will be hard to succeed in Europe as ESA are so wedded to Ariannespace, and although they are technically a commercial entity, the reality is they are pretty much an arm of ESA who themselves are owned by the EU.

[@harmonyspaceagency1743]

Another great interview I think

[@fcogradion4823]

We can name their ENGINE 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@espenha]

Can we? I vote for "Flamey McFlameface"!

[@kincaid05]

do you just record interviews on speakerphone? can you get a legit setup for these guests. if you really think they're special we should get some decent audio

[@martehoudesheldt5885]

what about a big sticky pad for the capture of very small stuff?

[@espenha]

Sticky materials don't generally like vacuum.

[@robertanderson5092]

Giant ball of chewed bubble gum.

[@harmonyspaceagency1743]

would probably be moving too fast, though it you have something inflatable, sticky, and thick. Then yeah, Bubble guns

[@steveperreira5850]

It is hard to make and maintain sticky pads in space because of the extreme cold and then heat as you orbit the earth and come in and out of sunlight. Nevertheless, we need way better ideas than grabbing them and taking them back with us. I have suggested punching them out of space. The satellite should have a punching arm that simply punches them down . This makes sense from a first principles analysis if you look into it.

[@kendrickpi]

Do they have ‘David & Goliath’ capability to de orbit (vastly) larger debris then their rocket?

[@thomasheberling9651]

Peter Becks interview with Everyday Astronaut points out the folly of cost per kg and what sat operators really want. Rocket Lab is dominating the markets and once customers have a stable provider they aren't going to change. RFA is late to the market and will have to fight for scraps, it will have to deal with not just German redtape but EU redtape as well and thats not a good look.

[@espenha]

He is right that the penalties in getting to market late aren't too high. As long as one is able to get a better and cheaper launch option to market, most potential customers will want to fly on your rocket. It's not like say a youtube competitor, where it just isn't enough to be better. KZbin was first and the user base is the real value. This is really the difference in catering to companies vs catering to consumers. Companies tend to be more rational in economic decisions. However, there are still some penalties to being late. Basically, cost goes down with launch cadence. So if SpaceX is launching 50 times per year, and you want to compete against their pricing, you also need to launch 50 times per year (if all other things are equal). But when the company is starting out, you just won't be launching as much as the competition. That means you either your pricing has to be higher than the competition, or you have to run the company at a loss until the launch cadence gets up to a good level. The former could mean not getting any customers, as they have no reason to pick an expensive and unproven launch provider, and the latter leads to substantial accumulated losses over time.

[@steveperreira5850]

Not only that, they are so naïve they think they can hire engineers from all over the world and their technology will not be stolen. You are taking a great risk hiring even one Chinese national. I hate to say it but that’s the truth. Sometimes I think these Germans are kind of set back by losing two world wars and all the guilt that carries, and that’s a lot of guilt to carry around, but then they act like little children thanking that everybody is good and decent. That is not the truth!

[@steveperreira5850]

@@espenha : I appreciate your thoughtful comments. It is simply glossing over reality you claim that being last two market is a great advantage.

[@richinvancouver3100]

Do Zoom interviews… way more interesting to see the guest along with the background video

[@RogerM88]

I think people starting to be too much obsessed with "reusability", while ignoring big part of rocket launching costs, goes to the support infrastructure and Staff.

[@LaughingOrange]

Rocketlab, who are the main proponent of saving money on infrastructure and staff, are building a reusable rocket. Reusability is very important.

[@RogerM88]

@@brewdin62 that lame comparative with an Airliner is getting quite tiring. A rocket is different from a plane. A Rocket needs to be lighter to maximize it payload to LEO or farther. To make it reusable, you need to reinforce it and make it more complex. Reusing a rocket just makes sense if you have many launches per year, and the refurbishment is cost effective.

[@RogerM88]

@@brewdin62 for a reason SpaceX claims of saving costs reusing Falcon 9, aren't translating in drastically reduce of cost per Ton to LEO.

[@RogerM88]

@@LaughingOrange reusability in the Rocket Industry is important until a certain point. There is a Tsiolkovsky Rocket Equation, that just shows you that.

[@harmonyspaceagency1743]

@@brewdin62 Reading that I got am image of someone driving their car throwing bags of garbage out the window before dumping their car off a cliff each day.

[@ixglocTV]

4:55 Wise decision

[@pulesjet]

Funny how no one thought about reusability until SPACE X started ,

[@johnbuchman4854]

Have you heard of the U.S. thing called the "Space Shuttle"? You might want to look it up--it is described in what are called "history books".

[@SeanKula]

@@johnbuchman4854 Good point but I think he's talking about rockets specifically not a shuttle.

[@patelk464]

Others probably did think about it but deemed it too expensive to develop. Remember that SpaceX was one launch failure away from going bankrupt 9 years ago.

[@apollo8030]

Many people thought about it, SpaceX was the first to do it successfully. Some reusable rockets that were proposed before SpaceX succeed include STS, Buran, Venturestar, Energia II, Skylon and DC-X. Though credit to spaceX and Blue orgin. When other company's saw how well it was working they started to design reusable rockets

[@pulesjet]

@@apollo8030 STS and BRAUN are ships not boosters or carriers.

[@shatchett0]

From what I understand their rockets will be reentering over London. With a payload.

[@mikeg6633]

The plan to deorbit space junk with every launch is fantastic! I hope that becomes the standard for every launch worldwide.

[@steveperreira5850]

I agree! But you don’t have to pick these things up. You can just bump them and knock them out of orbit. Think of a spring loaded, or gas piston powered arm that can just punch things out of space. This way you don’t use up your momentum taking out of orbit a tiny piece of space debris. Didn’t really like the system they showed grabbing onto space Debris. Very primitive, not really bright

[@NexiiMalthus]

The Angry Astronaut, regarding your question about why european space agencies focus more on cleaning up vs. Russia and US goes back to how here in europe there's a mindset to care for the environment which is reflected in upbringing and philosophies, which has been reflected in EU's regulations as well, which also then creates a positive feedback loop from the citizens. Unfortunately he failed to recognise the nature of your question, which is why he answered the way he did, it's in his mindset that the space junk is just unforgiveable from his upbringing. It just doesn't make sense. But for people from US, much like it is reflected in their cities and their daily lives, junk and harm to the environment is often a problem for someone else to deal with. Some of the european countries like Germany and even japan are probably the best examples of such mindsets (albeit different motives, one for caring for oneself and others another for appearance). A culture of cleaning up and taking care of the environment is very important for humanity, especially if we want to make the most of our solar system and go beyond.

[@steveperreira5850]

Good for Germany and Japan, after all, 75 years ago they did all they could do annihilate every other human being on earth. They have a lot of cleaning up to do.

[@jamesrobinson3660]

You ever heard of Arca space 🙄

[@pulesjet]

We need a international agreement that when ever a entity places something in orbit they need to deorbit there object along with some other object when the mission is completed. The net gun idea being the simplest system.

[@wolfgangpreier9160]

Please tell that the Americanos, the Russians and the Chinese. All others already do just that.

[@wietsepruijmpie1922]

we all know that isn't gonna happen

[@wietsepruijmpie1922]

imagine if nasa would have to bring a piece of debris down when launching people to orbit.. like whut

[@pulesjet]

@@wolfgangpreier9160 It is becoming a thing. Space x deorbits dead birds. I do see hardware being left behind on all launches. That needs to end.

[@wolfgangpreier9160]

@@pulesjet Space X are no Americanos. They are Space-X. A Private company based in Texas. And flying from L39A and B and Vandenberg. Americanos are Boeing, NASA etc. Of course Elon tried to clean up the mess they had to produce in space.

[@stevemolloy1289]

still far behind Rocket lab,why bother?

[@TheAngryAstronaut]

Quadruple the payload of Electron. Until Neutron comes out, these guys will be very competitive.

[@MiguelMendoza-hq5ex]

Space junk is an inappropriate way of thinking of it, because it's still use as communication devices and may be used as a service.

[@GreenJimll]

I wonder how long it will be before someone starts collecting space junk in orbit but doesn't want to deorbit it but instead reuse it somehow. If you could process junk in orbit you've potentially saved all the energy that was expended getting it up out of the gravity well in the first place. Space based solar powered aluminium smelter anyone?

[@suraj_hb1653]

Hello..😉

[@mikeg6633]

Hi, these guys might have a business selling small, cheap deorbiting satellites to other lift companies. Make them small enough to, or versitile enough to go on every launch

[@kevinvanhorn2193]

I was hoping for an answer to this question: who pays for deorbiting space debris? Is RFA planning to deorbit derelicts on their own as a public service, or are they anticipating that someone will pay them to deorbit specific pieces of space junk?

[@TheAngryAstronaut]

Sadly, there is no answer to this question. There's no profit in doing it, so governments probably have the responsibility. However, if we want to avoid a Kessler Syndrome, which loses everyone billions (if not trillions), then every private space company should pitch in too.

[@espenha]

There's also the question of legality. The ownership of a satellite or rocket part doesn't cease just because it's "debris". If RFA approaches say an old soviet satellite to deorbit it, they will quickly find themselves in a diplomatic crisis. They will need permission to deorbit space junk whose owners can be determined.

[@m1ar1vin]

They might not be paid directly, but as the COO of RFA said, they are planning to remove space debris in the general area of the orbit of their clients satellite. So you can think of this, not just as altruism, but of additional service offering and potential market advantage over other launch providers that don't "clear the way" for their clients satelite orbit. If you care about that eye in the sky of yours, if your organisation depends on its 24/7 stream of data, you might very well hire RFA over a competitor to decrease risk of rogue debris in your orbit!

[@LostAnFound]

What is this plant on the moon BS? It would shatter with a touch. How stupid can it be?

[@alatteri]

Can you please use one of the hundreds of cheap/free services to properly record your conversations. The way you are doing it now totally de-legitimizes your channel and the quality guests.

[@robertbrander2074]

LOL ! ..... Marvellous Musk's ... Fantastic ... Revolutionary ... Game Changing ... Cutting Edge ... Inter-Planetary ... Best of the Best ... Civilization Saving ... BF Rocket ! .... has been downgraded to a Crude Prototype by a growing number of Space Nerds ..... I guess they are Woking Up to Reality ....... :-D

[@40watt_club]

TY for this vid. Very nice to hear something positive from germany. As a german expat I still heavily doubt , that all these efforts end up being successful. An EU governed by corrupt socialists and dominated by Germany won't allow this. OC the Augsburg guys do not face the hurdles SpaceX, Nasa etc. are confronted with in USA in hiring talent. But they haven't been constricted with these hurdles for a long time. Did they use their chance ? No. Will talent further try to avoid EU/Germany ... I guess so. And for good reason. OC IMHO potus is working hard to keep talent/capital out of investing in USA :-P

[@GoranXII]

I think it's a thing that any company launching US Space Force/NASA payloads has to be staffed exclusively by American citizens. RFA doesn't have that limitation.

[@danapted]

Don't bother with this video. The sound quality is typically poor. Something sadly made normal by this channel. I gave up after less than a minute of trying to decipher the heavily accented individual over the racket of the tiny sounding audio track.

[@alatteri]

Exactly.

[@andreasboesch9922]

Bark up another tree, Dan. Why piss your negativity here? You don't like this channel because of the sound? Then do your own channel, or just watch something else.

[@kevinvanhorn2193]

@@andreasboesch9922 With minimal editing, Dan's comment would qualify as legitimate constructive criticism. If I were TAA I certainly would want to know what things reduce viewership.

[@mikeburkart8028]

Google is doing pretty well getting his words right. Not like you can go anywhere else and hear it anyhow.

[@danapted]

@@andreasboesch9922 if everybody blows skittle flavored smoke up his exhaust he wont have any impetus to up his game quality. You dont get anything out if you cant hear it properly.