Companies who built their business arranging launches of smallsats on SpaceX’s rockets are now buying entire launches for themselves, a symbol of how tight the market for getting to orbit has become.
Exolaunch and SEOPS, two companies that arrange rides to space for small-satellite operators, have each booked dedicated Falcon 9 launches as they seek more control over when and where their customers fly. Other launch-service companies are reshuffling missions and looking for additional capacity as the need to get to space outpaces the supply of available rides.
“Demand is growing much faster than capacity,” Robert Sproles, chief executive of Exolaunch, said in a June interview.
The moves are evidence of the industry-wide crunch for launch services. The increasing demand for rideshare accommodations by a booming number of space companies coupled with industry concerns about the long-term future of SpaceX’s rideshare missions are forcing launch providers to get creative about how they serve their customers.
The result has been a series of unusual steps.
