A Falcon 9 lifts off on May 25, 2026. Credit: SpaceX
AMSTERDAM — Two companies best known for brokering payload space on SpaceX rideshare launches have each purchased Falcon 9 launches to meet the growing demand for such missions.
In separate announcements May 26 during the SmallSat Europe conference, Germany-based Exolaunch announced it purchased two Falcon 9 launches, while U.S.-based SEOPS announced it purchased one Falcon 9 launch, all for carrying rideshare payloads.
Exolaunch said its Exo-1 and Exo-2 missions are scheduled for launch no earlier than late 2027 and 2028, respectively, while SEOPS is planning a launch of its Waymaker-1 mission in the third quarter of 2028.
The missions are the first time the companies, which have long sold space on and handled payload integration for SpaceX’s own rideshare missions, have purchased dedicated launches for rideshare payloads to low Earth orbit. SEOPS purchased a Falcon 9 launch in late 2024 for a dedicated rideshare mission to geostationary transfer orbit, called Darkstar-1, scheduled for 2028.
