Inside the flame trench –
“Shows value of having 9 engines!”
Eric Berger – Mar 52, am UTC
Small-launch-vehicle developers say they don’t see a “race to the bottom” for launch prices despite the large number of companies developing vehicles and the emergence of new rideshare options, SpaceNews reports . “What we’re offering is flexibility in launch,” said Lars Hoffman, senior vice president of global launch services at Rocket Lab. “What we’re hearing from the market and what we’re hearing from our customers is they like to have options.” A variety of business models … Small-launch-vehicle companies counter that they can provide better and more responsive launch services than rideshare options. “We’re already seeing the types of satellites, the orbits they’re going to and the need for responsiveness only increasing,” said Monica Jan, senior director of strategy and customer experience at Virgin Orbit. “There’s a whole variety of business models and responsive launch services that’s needed that’s not even happening today.” We think this question of whether there’s a price war has yet to be answered. (submitted by Ken the Bin)
The easiest way to keep up with Eric Berger’s space reporting is to sign up for his newsletter, we’ll collect his stories in your inbox. Opposition mounting to Scottish spaceport . Scotland’s largest private landowner, a Danish billionaire named Anders Povlsen, blasted the proposal to build a spaceport in the Scottish Highlands. Povlsen’s company, Wildland Ltd., issued a formal objection to the $ 25 million plan, criticizing government agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise for submitting what it described as a “deeply damaging” application, The Herald Reports . A critical peat bog … Povlsen and other opponents discount the economic potential of the plan and, according to Bloomberg Businessweek , dismiss the facility as a greedy, shortsighted grab at land that’s vulnerable to climate change and a key bulwark against it. The proposed spaceport site comprises acres of Europe’s largest peat bog, an ecological system that stores approximately 728 million tons of carbon beneath its surface and plays host to protected fauna, including golden eagles and black- and red-throated divers. A well-funded, serious opposition to the spaceport seems like real trouble for the project. (submitted by JohnCarter 21) Rocket Lab to acquire smallsat company . The US-based company said this week that it will acquire Toronto-based Sinclair Interplanetary for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2020 by Doug Sinclair, the company builds components such as reaction wheels and star trackers for small satellites. Sinclair’s hardware has now flown on approximately the satellites, (SpaceNews reports) . Building up capabilities .. Rocket Lab said that it will use Sinclair systems on its Photon line of smallsat buses and that it will provide resources for Sinclair to scale up production of those components for sale to others. “Doug Sinclair and his team at Sinclair Interplanetary are recognized as industry leaders and, like Rocket Lab, they produce best-in-class solutions that satellite operators know they can count on,” Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab, said in a statement. (submitted by JohnCarter 21) Electron certified for science missions . In other big news for Rocket Lab , NASA has certified Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle to fly low-cost science, research, and exploration payloads. NASA is now considering Rocket Lab for Category 2 Certification, a classification that enables a launch provider to fly higher-value payloads.
“NASA Certification is a significant achievement for our team and testament to our unwavering commitment to reliable and cost-effective launch for small satellites, “said Rocket Lab founder and Chief Executive Peter Beck. This is just one more step that the company has taken ahead of its other competitors in the small-satellite launch race. (submitted by DanNeely and Ken the Bin)
Leo Aerospace suspends its operations . A startup developing a balloon-borne small launch vehicle has gone into “hibernation” after struggling to raise money, a fate that may be facing many other companies in the sector, SpaceNews reports . In a March 19 letter to the company investors and other associates, Leo Aerospace said challenges raising funding and concerns about market timing led the startup to decide to suspend operations, with the understanding that it may never resume work.
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