Small Launch Companies Work to Carve Out Own Niches to Compete with SpaceX Written 9 February 2024
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a payload of satellites for SpaceX's Starlink broadband network stands ready for launch. | Associated Press-©
Space News reports that small launch vehicle developers “are working to carve out niches in a market for smallsat launches that is increasingly dominated by SpaceX’s Transporter rideshare missions.” The Transporter missions, “which fill a Falcon 9 often with more than 100 smallsats, offer per-kilogram prices significantly below dedicated small launch vehicles.” SpaceX has “seen high demand for those missions and announced plans last year for a related line of missions called Bandwagon that will go to mid-inclination orbits.”
Full Story (Space News)