Aspire Space
Aspire Space is working with computational engineering firm LEAP 71 to develop a new large reusable launch vehicle that is capable of delivering up to 15 metric tons to low Earth orbit (LEO).
Per their partnership agreement, LEAP 71 will create the complete propulsion stack for Aspire's rockets using its Noyron Large Computational Engineering Model. The engines will stand about 2 metres high and will be entirely 3D printed.
Noyron was the model used for the first computationally engineered rocket engine to be hot fire tested last summer - the company has since completed and hot-fired a new rocket engine design every 30 days - while LEAP 71 has also leveraged its capabilities to produce two large-scale rocket engines presented at Formnext and an aerospike engine that was hot fire tested in December. It will also support LEAP 71's efforts to develop 200kN aerospike & 2000kN bell-nozzle reference engines, as reported by TCT in April.
Through this most recent collaboration, LEAP 71 will use Noyron to develop first-stage engines for Aspire Space based on its XRB-2E6 reference design. XRB-2E6 is said to be a high-performance, reusable liquid methane/liquid oxygen engine producing 2,000 kilonewtons of thrust - a similar performance to top-tier U.S. launch systems. In addition to the R1 orbital launcher, Aspire Space is also developing the S1 reusable spacecraft capable of transporting up to 2 metric tons of payload to and from orbital stations.
Hot-fire testing of the propulsion system is scheduled to begin in Q3 2026, starting with the 200 kN second-stage engine. The inaugural flight of the Aspire Space launch system is slated for 2030.
Read more | Exclusive: Behind the scenes at world first hot fire test of computationally engineered rocket engine
LEAP 71
LEAP 71's XRB-2E6 reference engine.
“For decades, my team and I built rockets the old way — reliable, but slow. Now begins a new era,” said Sergey Sopov, CTO of Aspire. “What LEAP 71 offers is the ability to finally turn our expertise into code, paving the way for rapid development with constant iterations. That’s how we will advance humanity in the New Space Age.”
“Engineering lies at the core of human civilisation, and we founded LEAP 71 to accelerate engineering itself — to push real-world progress forward using computational systems,” added Josefine Lissner, CEO of LEAP 71. “But it needs the hard-won knowledge of industry veterans to be meaningful. We are opening up that treasure trove of experience by working with Aspire’s team.”
“Innovation requires iteration — but human-driven design of complex machines takes enormous amounts of manual work,” offered Lin Kayser, Co-Founder of LEAP 71. “By systematically translating the body of knowledge of a field of engineering to Noyron, we radically reduce iteration time from months to days. The next generation of space systems won’t be drawn by humans — they’ll be computed.”
Aspire Space was founded in Luxembourg, but in line with this partnership, is set to relocate its primary operations to the United Arab Emirates. LEAP 71 is also based in Dubai.
“Sovereign access to space and rapid reusability are foundational to participating in one of the world’s most dynamic and aspirational sectors,” said Stan Rudenko, CEO of Aspire. “LEAP 71 gives us direct access to propulsion systems right here in the UAE — a strategic advantage that made relocating our entire team an easy decision. We are excited to help the Emirates take a bold next step as a spacefaring nation.”
