Development and manufacturing of reusable suborbital flight vehicles, rocket engines and test infrastructure.
Elara Aerospace gGmbH
Garching · Garching near MunichNew on Amplifa
About Elara Aerospace
Elara Aerospace is an aerospace company based in Garching near Munich that develops and manufactures reusable suborbital flight vehicles, propulsion systems and related test infrastructure. Manufacturing includes precision machining of rocket engine components such as the main combustion chamber, additive manufacturing (Laser Powder Bed Fusion) of combustion chambers in the copper alloy CuCr1Zr, as well as tank fabrication and assembly of thrust vector control systems. In-house engine test stands and the TB30 launch table are used for engine testing and launch operations. Development projects include the landing technology demonstrator Hopper (LOX/RP-1, 7 kN) and the suborbital research vehicle Starlight. The company works with the Technical University of Munich, UnternehmerTUM, TUM Venture Labs as well as industrial and manufacturing partners, and aims to enable universities and research teams to access suborbital flights.
- Site
- Garching
- Processes
- Precision machining (manufacturing of rocket engine components, incl. main combustion chamber), Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) of the TKL-7 combustion chamber, Tank fabrication, TVC assembly (thrust vector control assembly), Engine test stand operation / Launch Table TB30, Rocket design, prototyping, simulation (Autodesk Fusion workflow), Force measurement systems for rocket test stands (technology partnership GTM), Design and manufacturing of rocket engine components (precision machining)
- Materials
- CuCr1Zr (copper-chromium-zirconium alloy), RP-1 kerosene, LOX (liquid oxygen), Laser Powder Bed Fusion (3D printing), LOX and RP-1 kerosene
- Certificates
- ISO 9001, EN 9100
- Industries
- Space/Aerospace, Suborbital research flights, University and research payloads
- 01
Design, simulation and prototyping (Autodesk Fusion)
- 02
Precision machining of engine components
- 03
Additive manufacturing (PBF-LB) of combustion chambers
- 04
Tank fabrication and welding
- 05
TVC assembly
- 06
Engine and component testing on the test stand
- 07
Launch and test campaigns
Materials and Processes
CuCr1Zr (copper-chromium-zirconium alloy)
Material of the TKL-7 combustion chamber, produced by Laser Powder Bed Fusion, for LOX/RP-1 engines.
Laser Powder Bed Fusion (3D printing)
Process used to manufacture the 7-kN TKL-7 combustion chamber from CuCr1Zr.
LOX and RP-1 kerosene
Propellant combination of the Hopper and TKL-7 engines.
Sites
Garching
DEHeadquarters
Garching near Munich
DELogistics Hub / Delivery Address (c/o Makerspace GmbH, Lichtenbergstr. 6)
- Launch table/engine test stand TB30
- CNC milling machines
- Force measurement systems for test stands (GTM)
Components
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Precision machining (manufacturing of rocket engine components, incl. main combustion chamber)Machining | – | – | – | – | CuCr1Zr |
| Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) of the TKL-7 combustion chamberAdditive | – | – | – | – | CuCr1Zr |
| Tank fabricationJoining | – | – | – | – | – |
| TVC assembly (thrust vector control assembly)Assembly | – | – | – | – | – |
| Engine test stand operation / Launch Table TB30Testing | – | – | – | – | – |
| Rocket design, prototyping, simulation (Autodesk Fusion workflow)Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Force measurement systems for rocket test stands (technology partnership GTM)Testing | – | – | – | – | – |
3 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch Table / engine test stand | Elara Aerospace TB30 | 1 | – | – | Garching near Munich |
| Force measurement systems for test stands | GTM | – | – | – | – |
| Precision actuators for active engine control | Thomson (Regal Rexnord) | – | – | – | – |
Additional services
Reference customers
Quality
Testing of engines and components takes place at in-house test stands including the TB30 launch table; a technology partnership with GTM exists for force measurement systems at the test stands. No information on certified management systems is available.
| Evidence | Garching near Munich |
|---|---|
| ISO 9001 | |
| EN 9100 |
History
- 2024
Elara formalizes partnership with the Technical University of Munich, supported by UnternehmerTUM and TUM Venture Labs (4 April 2024).
- 2024
Elara and OLM sign agreement to conduct the Starlight test and suborbital campaign (7 November 2024).
- 2025
Coverage of planned launch services by OLM in Sardinia in cooperation with Elara (European Spaceflight, 9 June 2025; AGEEI, 13 May 2025).
- 2026
Technology partnerships publicly reported: GTM (15.09.2026), Oest Lubricants (22.08.2026), Thomson/Regal Rexnord (09.06.2026).