Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. says it’s signed an agreement to secure spots for secondary payloads on several of SpaceX’s rockets due for launch through the end of 2021.
- Spaceflight, which was recently acquired by Japan’s Mitsui & Co. in partnership with Yamasa Co., specializes in arranging rideshare launch logistics for small satellites. It’s had a relationship with SpaceX for a decade, highlighted by a 64-satellite Falcon 9 mission in 2018.
- Last year, SpaceX got into the rideshare business in a big way by offering its own program. To some extent, SpaceX’s Smallsat Rideshare Program competes with Spaceflight’s offerings, but now it also serves as one of the items on Spaceflight’s wider menu. “SpaceX’s consistent launch schedule, coupled with our deep expertise in mission management and integration services, offers rideshare options with greater reliability,” Curt Blake, president and CEO of Spaceflight, said today in a news release.
- Spaceflight’s next rideshare mission with SpaceX is scheduled to launch as early as next week. The Falcon 9 rocket is due to send two of BlackSky’s Earth observation satellites into orbit along with the next batch of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites.