Monday, August 5, 2019

SpaceX Offers New Dedicated Small Satellite Launches

Hawthorne-based SpaceX said on Monday that it will begin offering up regularly scheduled, shared "rideshare" launches, aimed at use by small satellite operators. According to SpaceX, those launches will cost as low as $2.25M per mission, including up to 150 kg of payload mass. The company said that--unlike the usual practice in the industry--the launches will not be dependent on "primary" missions, and will not be held up by any delays with co-passengers. SpaceX says it plans to let any payloads that run into issues to shift their launches to subsequent missions, with only a possible rebooking fee. SpaceX has launched a significant number of ride shared satellites, which typically are launched subsequent to a primary launch missions on any available space on a rocket. The company also recently launched a dedicated small satellite mission coordinated by a customer, Spaceflight, the Spaceflight SSO-A mission. Image: Illustrator's image of the Spaceflight SSO-A mission.