Spaceflight Industries
Commercial, not government, demand will drive size of small launch vehicle market
Startups in the burgeoning small launch vehicle market acknowledge that only a handful of vehicles will survive a likely shakeout, driven more by commercial rather than government demand.
Spaceflight signs contract with Relativity for launches
Small launch vehicle developer Relativity announced May 6 it has signed an agreement with Spaceflight for a series of smallsat rideshare launches.
Cloud Constellation selects LeoStella to build 10 data-storage satellites
Cloud Constellation CEO Cliff Beek said LeoStella, a joint venture of Thales Alenia Space and Spaceflight Industries, beat Northrop Grumman on price, among other factors.
Spaceflight looks to more rideshare missions with fewer satellites per launch
After placing more than 60 satellites into orbit on a single Falcon 9 last year, Spaceflight says it will focus on launching smaller numbers of satellites at a time on more launches this year.
SpaceX launches satellites, moon mission on Falcon 9
A SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying an Indonesian communications satellite, an Israeli lunar lander and a U.S. Air Force smallsat launched Feb. 21 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
LeoStella looks for more customers as it opens satellite factory
As LeoStella inaugurated the factory that will be used to produce a series of Earth imaging satellites, the joint venture of Thales Alenia Space and Spaceflight Industries continues to look for other customers.
Small launch vehicle companies see rideshare as an opportunity and a threat
Developers of small launch vehicles, who have promoted their vehicles as providing dedicated access to space for small satellites, say they’re also open to flying rideshare missions as they face competition from larger rockets.
New contracts demonstrate continued strong demand for smallsat rideshare launch services
A pair of new deals shows that, despite the growing number of small launch vehicles under development, demand from smallsat developers for rideshares on larger vehicles remains high.
SpaceX’s final Iridium Next launch delayed to January
The new launch date, announced Dec. 7 by customer Iridium Communications, was driven by the additional two weeks SpaceX ended up needing to launch Spaceflight Industries’ “SmallSat Express” dedicated rideshare mission.
SpaceX launches all-smallsat Falcon 9 mission
A SpaceX Falcon 9 exclusively dedicated to small satellites launched Dec. 3, at 1:34 p.m. Eastern, carrying 64 satellites to low Earth orbit.
Dedicated rideshare Falcon 9 launch raises satellite tracking concerns
As SpaceX prepares to launch a Falcon 9 carrying dozens of small satellites, some experts are worried that it will be difficult to track and identify the satellites once in orbit.
Draper bids on NASA commercial lunar lander competition
The organization that helped NASA’s Apollo spacecraft land on the moon a half-century ago is now working with an industry team that includes a Japanese lunar lander company to propose a commercial return to the lunar surface.
Spaceflight gears up for dedicated Falcon 9 launch
Spaceflight announced Aug. 6 that it’s beginning final preparations for a dedicated Falcon 9 launch later this year carrying more than 70 smallsats for a variety of commercial, government and educational customers.
Spaceflight signs agreement with Virgin Orbit
Spaceflight announced June 25 an agreement with Virgin Orbit for a future dedicated rideshare mission as it seeks to diversify its options for launching smallsats.
Spaceflight books launch slots on two Arianespace Vega missions
Spaceflight Industries has secured rideshare opportunities on two Vega rocket missions for tiny satellites.
Smallsat launch providers face pricing pressure from Chinese vehicles
Companies that are developing small launch vehicles or who provide rideshare launch services say they expect new Chinese launch vehicles to drive down launch prices, raising concerns among some of unfair competition.
