On August 27, 2025, ESA signed the first launch service contracts under its Flight Ticket Initiative (FTI), securing five missions with Avio and Isar Aerospace. The agreements mark the transition from framework selection to real flights, supporting Europe’s launcher ecosystem and expanding opportunities for innovation.
The contracts cover in-orbit demonstration and validation missions (IOD/IOV), giving emerging technologies the chance to prove themselves in space. These flights will carry experimental systems from European institutions and companies, turning prototypes into space-ready hardware.
The FTI is a joint program of ESA and the European Commission, co-funding access to launch services on European rockets. Part of ESA’s Boost! programme, it lowers barriers for innovation, fosters competition in the European space industry, and anchors demand for the continent’s evolving launch market.
A second round of applications is already open, with a cut-off date set for 1 October 2025. More projects are expected to join the manifest as ESA expands FTI opportunities across its provider pool.
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From Germany to Norway: a rocket for polar orbits
Headquartered in Munich, Germany, Isar Aerospace is an emerging launch company developing Spectrum, a two-stage rocket designed to carry up to one ton into orbit. From its launch site at Andøya, Norway, Spectrum offers direct access to polar and sun-synchronous orbits for institutional and commercial smallsat missions.
One of Isar’s FTI missions will deploy “Tom & Jerry,” a pair of satellites by Infinite Orbits, to demonstrate debris-rendezvous and servicing maneuvers. The project aims to pave the way for future on-orbit repair, refueling, and life-extension services.
The second contract goes to ISISpace, which will fly the “CASSINI” mission carrying a suite of in-orbit demonstration payloads. Acting as a rideshare, CASSINI brings together multiple European experiments, including avionics, propulsion, and communications technologies.
Spectrum’s first test flight lifted off on March 30, 2025, but was terminated shortly after launch, still providing valuable data. Isar plans to resume its flight campaign with commercial missions from 2026 onward, including the two FTI launches.
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Vega-C operations shift makes Avio a new FTI player
Avio enters the FTI through Vega-C, the rocket it now operates directly after taking over from Arianespace in mid-2025. Though not one of the initial five FTI providers, Avio now signs contracts for ESA missions tied to Vega-C launches.
The three selected payloads are:
- Persei’s E.T. Pack – a passive deorbit device using an electrodynamic tether to safely remove satellites from orbit.
- Pluto+ by DLR – a CubeSat testing compact avionics and a deployable solar array generating up to 100 watts.
- GapMap-1 from GRASP – equipped with a shortwave infrared spectrometer to measure greenhouse gases for climate monitoring.
For Avio, these contracts reinforce the Vega-C roadmap after its return to flight in 2025 with Biomass and CO3D/MicroCarb. ESA expects a steady cadence of launches to restore confidence and position Vega-C as Europe’s workhorse for small to medium payloads.
“Being an active part of this initiative demonstrates the reliability of Vega-C and strengthens Avio’s position as a key technological partner for the sector”, stated Giulio Renzo, AVIO CEO.
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