Last week was an eventful one for our client, Spaceflight Industries, announcing two important milestones for the company’s satellite rideshare and mission management service, Spaceflight.
Spaceflight’s SHERPA vehicle, a hosted payload and in-space transportation solution designed to take smallsats to orbitThe first announcement revealed that Spaceflight had been awarded its first contract from NASA Kennedy Space Center Contract (KSC) for launch and integration services. The multi-year contract covers launch services for a maximum of 24 payloads in 2018, with options to provide launch services for up to 24 additional payloads in both 2019 and 2020.
Not only was this announcement impressive from an economic perspective with the potential total contract valued at more than $5 million, but it also made an important statement, validating Spaceflight’s unique rideshare model. Spaceflight has been serving the commercial sector with great success for nearly seven years, having launched 112 satellites to date, and this contract illustrated that government agencies can benefit from the innovative commercial space industry as well.
In addition to the new contract, Spaceflight also made large strides in the development of its SSO-A Integrated Payload Stack. SSO-A is the first-ever dedicated rideshare launch and this structure will ensure that the payloads and spacecraft subsystems, from nearly 50 government and commercial organizations, will withstand the turbulence and vibrations of launch.
A series of third-party tests subjected Spaceflight’s nearly 20-foot satellite rideshare structure to low-level vibration to excite the core structure. These tests allowed engineers to calculate flight environments that the structure, avionics and customer spacecraft will be exposed to during the launch.
Curt Blake, president of Spaceflight, noted that this was the most complex launch the company had ever designed. Blake said, “Because we’re breaking ground with such a historic mission, we need to ensure the payloads and spacecraft subsystems will withstand the turbulence and vibrations of launch. It’s a tremendous accomplishment for our team and testament to our integration expertise.”
After distributing the releases via the wire and to our press list, we secured the following coverage.
Spaceflight Awarded First NASA Contract for Launch of U-Class Payloads
- NASA Awards Contract for Integration, Launch Services of U-Class Payloads– Space Ref, 9/29/17
- Launch and Integration Services Contract Awarded to Spaceflight by NASA Kennedy Space Center– Satnews, 10/2/17
- Spaceflight wins $5.5 million NASA contract for nanosatellite launch services– GeekWire, 10/2/17
- Spaceflight to Launch U-Class Payloads for NASA – Via Satellite 10/3/17
- NASA launching up to 72 smallsats with Spaceflight for $5.5 million– Space News, 10/3/17
- Seattle-based Spaceflight Wins NASA Contract– Seattle Business Magazine, 10/3/17
- NASA Taps Spaceflight for Launch, Integration Services– Executive Biz, 10/3/17
- NASA launching up to 72 smallsats with Spaceflight for $5.5 million – Space News 10/3/17
- Spaceflight gets NASA contract for launch of U-Class Payloads – Financial News (U.K.) 10/4/17
- Spaceflight Awarded 1st NASA Contract for Launch of U-Class Payloads – ASDNews 10/4/17
Spaceflight Successfully Completes Modal Survey for SSO-A Spacecraft
- Spaceflight Completes Modal Survey for SSO-A Spacecraft—Via Satellite, 10/4/17
- Spaceflight’s Integrated Payload Stack — SSO-A — Completes Modal Survey Successfully—SatNews, 10/4/17