
SpaceX Smallsat Rideshare Program - mulcahey
https://www.spacex.com/smallsat
======
Rebelgecko
With these prices it looks like they're not targeting cubesats, which I'm sure
is a relief to the existing rideshare companies. It will be interesting to see
how good they are at launching on time. Since SpaceX can shift around Starlink
launches to help their schedule, they might have a bit of an advantage over
conventional rideshare companies.

>For payloads who run into development or production challenges leading up to
launch, SpaceX will allow them to apply 100% of monies paid towards the cost
of rebooking on a subsequent mission (rebooking fees may apply).

Without knowing the magnitude of the rebooking fees this isn't a very
informative statement.

~~~
tlrobinson
How large is the CubeSat launch market?

Also, they do say this:

> Cubesats can be aggregated and launched on a customer provided, ESPA-
> compatible deployer.

~~~
Rebelgecko
Relatively small but very rapidly growing (like the smallsat market in
general). A decade ago there were a dozen or so cubesats launched per year.
Now there's a few hundred, and that number is projected to continue to grow
[1].

Personally I do think that the small launcher market is a bit of a VC-
subsidized bubble— I suspect that a lot of the companies in the space are
going to fold over the next few years.

[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CubeSat#/media/File:Nanosatell...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CubeSat#/media/File:Nanosatellites_launched_by_years.png)

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_Microft
Eric Berger (Ars Technica) on this:

[https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/spacex-enters-
compet...](https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/spacex-enters-competition-
for-smallsat-launch-contracts-with-a-low-low-price/)

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TeMPOraL
Sun-Synchronous Orbit... huh, that one you _can 't_ do in Kerbal Space
Program.

Turns out SSO is exploiting the fact that Earth isn't a perfect sphere, and so
you can use the non-spherically-symmetric gravity field to induce precession
in your orbital plane. If you tune the precession go 360° per year, you get a
Sun-Synchronous Orbit.

Decent.

\--

[0] - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun-
synchronous_orbit#Technica...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun-
synchronous_orbit#Technical_details)

~~~
EdwinHoksberg
Indeed it doesn't work in stock KSP, but it works using a mod called
Principia[1] which implements N-body physics!

\--

[1]
[https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/162200...](https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/162200-wip151-161-17x-principia—version-
ferrari-released-2019-08-01—n-body-and-extended-body-gravitation-axial-tilt/)

~~~
TeMPOraL
> _This initial configuration also includes J2 for the Sun, the planets, the
> Moon, and Vesta, so the resulting effects are felt (precession of Earth
> orbits, the possibility of heliosynchronous orbits, etc.)._

Wow <3\. I though the mod only did n-body physics, but it seems it goes beyond
that. Thanks!

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ortusdux
What does L-12 and L-6 from the pricing section refer to?

~~~
ExodusOrbitals1
Launch date minus 12 or 6 months.

~~~
unixhero
Not Lagrange points?

~~~
unspecified
There are only five Lagrange points, so L-6 and above are not Lagrange points.
:-)

~~~
mrfusion
Not with that attitude!

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bobbles
The page talks about launching for a fraction of prior costs.

Does anyone know what a traditional cost would be vs the $2.25M quoted?

~~~
tzfld
Pegasus can lift ~300 kg into SSO of that altitude
([https://www.northropgrumman.com/Capabilities/Pegasus/Documen...](https://www.northropgrumman.com/Capabilities/Pegasus/Documents/Pegasus_Factsheet.pdf))
and it costs over $50 million. But it is known for the unusual high price even
among old style launchers.

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philip1209
Because they are posting pricing, I'm curious about the details. What happens
if the rocket fails and loses the payload? Is there insurance
included/available? Does the customer get a refund?

~~~
dr_orpheus
Satellite insurance is a fairly big industry. The owner of the satellite being
launched is responsible for getting said insurance against the satellite. This
can cover anomalies during launch [1] or anomalies on orbit where the
satellite is lost or can no longer perform its mission [2]. Pretty much all
commercial companies will have insurance on their satellites, government
satellites are typically "self-insured".

[1] [https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/breaking-
news/s...](https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/breaking-
news/satellite-insurance--a-brief-introductory-guide-174465.aspx) [2]
[https://spacenews.com/digitalglobe-loses-
worldview-4-satelli...](https://spacenews.com/digitalglobe-loses-
worldview-4-satellite-to-gyro-failure/)

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b_tterc_p
Is rideshare an industry standard term or is it just clever?

~~~
mholt
Pretty standard. Rocket Lab:[https://www.rocketlabusa.com/book-my-
launch/](https://www.rocketlabusa.com/book-my-launch/)

~~~
_Microft
A rocket launch company website with an order form and fields labelled
"Desired orbit", "Launch date" and "Payload mass". What time to be alive :)

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varjag
Heliosync orbit suggests focus on visual Earth observation and surveillance
type missions.

~~~
garmaine
I think you are thinking of geosync?

~~~
wmf
No. Geosynchronous orbits are so far away that cameras can't see much detail.
Sun-synchronous low earth orbits are much closer and they always pass over the
light side of the planet allowing for consistent observation.

~~~
garmaine
Ah I misread and was thinking this was heliocentric orbits.

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dnjdrbdhdbs
What is the rough breakdown of applications for all these cubesats and other
satellites?

~~~
vonseel
Also curious what the rough breakdown of applicTions is... somehow you have
several replies and most about a hamburger menu.

What are satellites even used for these days besides navigation and espionage
(limited to a handful of large players, I assume)?

~~~
duskwuff
Communications is a huge one. Think satellite TV, telephone, and Internet
services.

From the governmental side, another major application is Earth observation,
both for science and for weather forecasting.

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eznoonze
UberSat LyftSat

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ExodusOrbitals1
They are definitely in the need of extra cash from smallsat market.

~~~
rtkwe
The transferable nature of the ride seems like a big gamble pared with their
statement that launches won't be held up by co-passengers. Guess they're just
counting on the odds that enough passengers will drop out to make the launch
uneconomic will be fairly low.

~~~
notatoad
another comment mentions starlink launches. If spaceX has 12000 satellites of
their own that they need to send up, they can fill up a fair bit of unused
capacity.

it sounds like they're essentially selling the opportunity to take the place
of a starlink satellite in any given launch. if the customer cancels, no big
deal - they'll just send the originally scheduled starlink satellite.

~~~
rtkwe
This looks very different from their Starlink launcher though and doesn't look
like it could live above or below it either. Sun synchronous orbit is a pretty
specific orbit too.

~~~
dr_orpheus
Yeah, the Starlink launcher was a pretty specific device designed around the
Starlink satellites. The attachments shown in the attached link are the ESPA
(EELV (Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle) Secondary Payload Adapter) [1]
rings. They work well for a variety of customers using it because you can put
out a generic document for an interface and a box you need to fit within. The
first dedicated rideshare program like this was the STP-2 mission. [2]

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EELV_Secondary_Payload_Adapter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EELV_Secondary_Payload_Adapter)

[2] [http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/space-
images/spacecraft/...](http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/space-
images/spacecraft/stp-2-payload.html)

