In the rideshare industry, launch opportunities come and go as fast as a Groupon deal. Even locating a launch opportunity can be as mysterious as locating the Amazon Treasure Truck.
Having worked at Spaceflight now for almost four years, I have seen many launches pop up and slip away because the contracting process for our customers was too timely and cumbersome.
Our ultimate goal at Spaceflight is to make accessing space as routine as calling an Ube...
This time of year we typically reflect on what we’re grateful for, and at Spaceflight, we’re grateful for you - our friends, family, customers and fellow space enthusiasts. We’re thankful for all of the people that have connected with us, believed in us, launched with us, and generally supported us in our mission to deliver a new model for accessing space over the years. To express our appreciation, we want to give something back, to you, our community of
It is not every day that you can say “we just procured launch services for 12 satellites to low earth orbit – oh and by the way, one of them is going to the MOON”, but that is what we just did.
You maybe saw the big announcement today that explains it all: “Israel-based SpaceIL Becomes First Google Lunar XPRIZE Team to Produce a Verified Launch Contract for a 2017 Mission, Using a SpaceX Falcon 9 Launcher via Spaceflight Industries.” With this verif...
Yesterday we announced that we purchased a rocket. A whole rocket! This mission, which we have been internally referring to as “2017A”, is manifested entirely with small satellites. Back in 2010 when Jason and Curt started Spaceflight, few would have believed that just 5 years later the small sat launch demand would be so prevalent we could only satisfy it by buying an entire SpaceX Falcon 9.
This new concept of a Dedicated Rideshare Mission is really abo
When the business side of the launch campaign ends, the engineering begins. In the previous post, we showed how a microsatellite finds a launch through Spaceflight. Engineering is very involved in this process. However, once a launch is found and the contract is signed, engineering takes the lead, guiding the launch campaign from contract signature to launch day.
As soon as the ink dries on the contract, engineering swings into full project management m...
As an engineer, no days at Spaceflight are ever dull. We’re involved in every part of the company’s services, from determining a spacecraft's ideal launch to actually integrating that spacecraft onto the launch vehicle. Engineers are involved in the process from the moment a spacecraft developer contacts Spaceflight about potential launches. In this example of a microsatellite customer, Spaceflight mission managers (engineers) assist the spacecraft through...
Our second day at the conference began with a cross-city trip to a local Singaporean university to see a CubeSat payload. The tiny payload, which should fit inside a 1U CubeSat, is a technology demonstration of an entangled photon experiment. Seeing the facilities and equipment was very exciting. Usually we get involved with CubeSats once the assembly has already begun, but, in this case, we had the opportunity to see the payload itself and receive a detai
The day dawned hot and partly cloudy in Singapore, where Spaceflight is currently attending the Global Space & Technology Convention. This year’s conference theme is “Advancing the Asian Space Hub.” An excellent introduction to the theme was presented in the “Asia Pacific’s Needs in Space” panel, which featured representatives from Asian space agencies and industry.
As always, we focused on the topic of small satellites, taking detailed notes as soo
Set along the beautiful Mediterranean coast in Tel Aviv, the Ilan Ramon conference was a wonderful experience for Spaceflight. We were excited about our first conference in Israel and ready to learn, meet new people and enjoy the amazing hospitality of the Israeli conference organizers.
Since this was our first trip to Israel, we were unaware that the country had such a burgeoning small satellite industry. During our time there, we learned about inn...
It all started innocently enough; we were getting ready to take the obligatory corporate Christmas photo. The girls were shivering in the 40 degree high bay and the managers were setting up the lighting. It took three short guys to plug the light into an overhead socket. Yes; all was normal.
The camera flashed a couple times as we gathered around the ESPA ring. Everyone clasped their hands in a professional manner and stretched their smiles wide.
The...
