SpaceForest’s Perun suborbital rocket took to the skies on 21 June 2023 from the Air Force Training Centre in Ustka, Poland, on the Baltic Sea and reached an altitude of 22 km.

Based in Poland, SpaceForest is developing a commercial single-stage sounding rocket offering almost four minutes of microgravity experimentation time. The 11.5-m tall rocket will be able to launch 50 kg up to 150 km in altitude while also stabilising the payload for high-quality microgravity periods of flight.

Perun, named after the god of the sky in Slavic mythology, is a single-stage guided suborbital launch vehicle powered by a hybrid rocket engine that runs on modified paraffin, commonly used as candle wax, and so its propellant is non-toxic. The rocket can be launched on a mobile launchpad, allowing for easy deployment at launch facilities around Europe.

The Perun launch service is offered to commercial and institutional customers to access the microgravity environment for experiments. The service is geared to provide easy access to payloads right up to an hour before launch, which is useful for last-minute tweaks, preparing biological samples or charging batteries for example.

To support the further service development and deployment, ESA is supporting activities with co-funding of €2.4 million. With its Boost! programme, ESA is boosting commercial initiatives that offer transportation services to space, in space, and returning from space. The programme also supports Member States implementing national objectives for spaceports, testing facilities and more.

More information about Perun rocket system can be found at: perunrocket.com.