![]() “We’re fortunate that we’re very close to launch,” Salwan says. Firefly, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Austin, is developing its Alpha vehicle to be capable of transporting 1,000 Kilograms (kg) into LEO, with initial launch scheduled for the end of 2019. Eric Salwan, director of business development for Firefly Aerospace, expects “a massive consolidation” of prospective small satellite providers, and a similar shrinking from the telecommunications constellations currently in development to those that are deployed. ![]() ![]() New players are creating innovative business models to ensure they stand out in a crowd. “The most successful small launch providers will be those that are both competing effectively in the commercial market and have government customers that are providing them with additional significant demand,” she says. Meanwhile, government contracts continue to drive the launch service market, Christensen notes. “Multiple players pursue it, and typically you would expect that only some will succeed.” The total number of launches worldwide and the number of commercial launches specifically is growing, according to a 2019 Bryce report. Companies including Rocket Lab, Relativity Space, Vector, Virgin Orbit, Firefly Aerospace, and more are developing cheap, flexible rocket systems and cultivating business plans that offer an edge in a crowded field of applicants.As the demand for GEO satellite orders grows thin, there is not enough room for all of the prospective players to ultimately succeed in the emerging LEO market, says Carissa Christensen, founder and CEO of Bryce Space and Technology, an analytics and engineering company focusing on space, satellites, cyber, and Research and Development (R&D) based in Alexandria, Virginia.That is normal for an industry full of new opportunities, she notes. ![]() In particular, 2018 saw only five orders for satellite launches to Geostationary Orbit (GEO) after peaking at 26 units in 2014.Meanwhile, new entrants are filling the market at a rapid pace, ready to service upcoming orders to deploy new small satellite constellations into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). While the overall number of launches has grown worldwide, commercial opportunities are becoming more competitive as well as uneven, notes the analytical firm Jefferies Aerospace and Defense Group in a May 2019 report. “Although I think we’ll always remain on the panels, there will probably only be three folks getting to orbit regularly.”Her fellow speakers on the panel - launch leaders from a mix of long-time service providers and more recent players - largely agree. ![]() July 2019 - How Launch Providers are Standing Out in a New Commercial Market | Via Satellite var utag_data = ("918570d68022c9bdf012e51ec8cd7b06") MenuVia SatelliteArchiveAuthorsSearchFacebookTwitterGoogle+YouTubeLinkedInSubscribeShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInFound inLaunchHow Launch Providers are Standing Out in a New Commercial MarketVivienne MachiSix global launch providers are drawing the same conclusion as they address a panel audience on a muggy spring afternoon in Washington, D.C.: Not all of their rockets will be servicing commercial customers over the next few years.“I don’t think there’s actually room for all of us here,” says Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX, during a panel discussion at the 2019 SATELLITE show hosted by Via Satellite. ![]()
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