An illustration of the ELS-R reentry vehicle being developed by ElevationSpace. Credit: ElevationSpace
TOKYO — A Japanese startup developing reentry vehicles is signing up customers and preparing for its first mission while keeping a watchful eye on SpaceX’s entry into the market.
ElevationSpace announced July 9 a memorandum of understanding with Space Cargo Unlimited, a Luxembourg-based space manufacturing company. Under the agreement, the companies will study flying Space Cargo Unlimited’s experiment platform, called BentoBox, on ElevationSpace’s reentry vehicles.
“By combining Space Cargo Unlimited’s microgravity production platform with ElevationSpace’s innovative return capabilities, we ensure that highly sensitive payloads, such as pharmaceutical and biotechnology samples, can be returned safely to Earth, creating a stronger foundation for the next generation of commercial space services,” Nicolas Gaume, chief executive of Space Cargo Unlimited, said in a statement.
ElevationSpace is developing a line of reentry vehicles for returning cargo from space. The ELS-R spacecraft is a free flyer that would launch to low Earth orbit and host payloads before returning them to Earth. The ELS-RS would launch to a space station on a cargo spacecraft, returning payloads from the station.
