Spaceflight Inc. has announced on August 3 during the opening of Small Satellite Conference 2020 that it will be launching its new programs to deliver greater flexibility to its smallsat customers needing frequent, reliable, and affordable ways to meet specific mission needs.
Spaceflight Inc. is an American private aerospace company and the leading satellite rideshare and mission provider that started in 2009.
Curt Blake, Spaceflight's president, and CEO said that there are a lot of things that they have learned over the past decade, as the need for flexibility on contracting and switching vehicles, orbital destinations, booking options, and integration services.
Big news to kick off #Smallsat2020. We're launching multiple initiatives to provide greater flexibility for our customers. New OTV, new web initiatives, and more.
"With our expertise working with all major launch vehicles, we have the unique advantage of building flexibility into all aspects of our business to meet our customers' individual mission needs. It's foundational to our vision of getting spacecraft on-orbit exactly when and where our customers want, and we're excited to unveil several first-of-their-kind programs to support it," Blake said.
In that sense, their new programs are designed to increase flexibility in all aspects of the launch spectrum, including the following:
No Hidden Fees
What you see is what you get. Spaceflight offers programs with no hidden fees, which means that the common practice of initially offering a low price per kilogram for smallsats and charging extra for other services will no longer be a problem.
Spaceflight offers all-in transparent pricing for its launch services.
Booking is Made Through Online
Like how anyone can book a flight online, Spaceflight has developed a similar way of booking smallsat launches.
Users would only have to input the spacecraft configurations, its orbital destination, desired launch timing, and also the insurance, fuel, and licensing, and then they may reserve using their credit card.
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"Mission Control" Web Platform
Once the booking is confirmed, users may securely log into the new Mission Control web platform of Spaceflight to manage their mission tasks, upload documents, access templates, and the frequently asked questions (FAQs) section, and to track progress and milestone.
It has become so easy and convenient to view everything associated with current and past launches in this always-available mission control platform.
New Space Vehicles
Spaceflight has announced that it will be launching its new space vehicles soon: the Sherpa FX, set to launch on its next SpaceX rideshare mission in December 2020, and Sherpa NG (next generation) group of orbital transfer vehicles that provides flexibility, orbital diversification, and mission assurance.
Reconfigurable Separation Sequencer
Spaceflight has developed a rapid and highly flexible reconfigurable separation sequencer that provides industry-leading capabilities for smallsat deployments.
Moreover, the sequences consist of communication hardware to independently downlink separation telemetry and is also designed to be compatible with almost all available separation systems.
Tracking Spacecraft Technology
Spaceflight introduces its flight-proven program that aims to aid customers to identify and track their spacecraft quickly after the launch. Customers will gain access to information that can facilitate its first contact and early operations, lessen space congestion, and provide the foundation for an effective and responsible space traffic management.
The Global Portfolio of Launch Vehicles
Spaceflight works with different launch vehicles such as the Falcon 9, Antares, Electron, Vega, and PSLV to give its customers launch options. Additionally, they also signed an agreement with new vehicles like SSLV of NSIL, Terran 1 of Relativity, and Alpha of Firefly to accommodate more specific mission plans.
Chief Financial Officer of Astrocast, Kjell Karlsen, noted that delays in the launch are inevitable, but it is their priority to ensure that IoT network constellation gets into orbit by switching launches as efficiently as possible.
To know more about Spaceflight's new services, registered smallsat attendees may visit the virtual exhibit of Spaceflight from Monday to Thursday from 10 am to 1 pm MDT to chat with staff, or they may contact sales@spaceflight.com for more details.
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