Spaceflight names Tiphaine Louradour as new CEO

Spaceflight Inc., a premier launch and in-space transportation services provider, announced this week that industry veteran and global business leader Tiphaine Louradour has joined the company as chief executive officer (CEO). She succeeds Curt Blake, a founding executive in the rideshare business who has served as Spaceflight CEO and president since 2013, establishing it as the leader in smallsat rideshare, navigating the development of a global portfolio of launch vehicles and services, including its ground-breaking Sherpa™ orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) program.

With 25 years as a global business leader, Louradour brings a wealth of strategic leadership, sales, and operational experience with past positions as president at International Launch Services, Inc. (ILS) and as ULA’s president, ULS global commercial sales. In addition, she has held senior leadership roles for multinational consulting firms, national firms and start-up companies in a variety of industries with geographically diverse environments.

“I could not be more excited to accept the position as CEO of this well-established company with its impressively talented team and long history of solving customers’ challenges in getting to, and around, space,” said Louradour. “My goal in leading this organization is to build on its ground-breaking achievements and expand the launch and on-orbit service offerings beyond LEO. I’m very much looking forward to working with the team, as well as its customers and partners, to continue to evolve Spaceflight and especially its Sherpa OTV program, into its next phase of growth.”

Spaceflight and Maritime Launch agree to future Sherpa OTV missions

Spaceflight Inc., a premier launch and in-space transportation services provider, announced this week it signed an agreement with Maritime Launch Services Inc. to launch up to five of its Sherpa(™) Orbital Transfer Vehicles (OTVs). The launches will be from Spaceport Nova Scotia aboard the Cyclone-4M beginning in 2025.

Spaceflight has successfully delivered more than 550 spacecraft across 55 launches, including both rideshare and dedicated launches, on a wide variety of launch vehicles. This includes launching five Sherpa OTVs, which carried more than 50 payloads to space.

“We’re eager to expand our portfolio of launch vehicle partners to carry our Sherpa OTVs to space. Maritime Launch represents an exciting new option as the first vehicle partner to launch from a commercial spaceport in North America,” said Curt Blake, CEO and president of Spaceflight Inc. “Not only does the Cyclone-4M deliver a wide variety of desirable inclinations for our customers, but the pricing is very attractive. The agreements to transport our Sherpa OTVs are foundational in our continuing efforts to expand our OTV capabilities from last-mile delivery to in-orbit servicing.”

Spaceflight Inc. and Rocket Factory Partner to Fly Sherpa OTVs on Future RFA Launches from Europe

Spaceflight Inc. and Rocket Factory Partner to Fly Sherpa OTVs on Future RFA Launches from Europe (Graphic: Business Wire)

-At the International Astronautical Congress 2022 (IAC), Spaceflight Inc., the leading global launch services provider, today announced it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for upcoming launches with Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA). The agreement formalizes the plan for Spaceflight to fly its Sherpa® orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) and other rideshare payloads on upcoming RFA missions from a variety of European launch sites, including from facilities in the United Kingdom, French Guiana and others. The companies are targeting mid-2024 for their first launch.

“The demand for access to cost-effective, last-mile delivery launches is growing rapidly from customers with payloads of all sizes and types,” said Curt Blake, CEO and president of Spaceflight. “Having many different launch options across different price points, orbital destinations, and facility locations is very important to our savvy spacecraft developer customers. RFA brings increased price competitiveness and launch frequency from many different launch locations throughout Europe. We’re looking forward to extending our launch vehicle portfolio for Sherpa OTVs and rideshare services to now include RFA ONE, and wish them well on their upcoming maiden flight.”

Spaceflight to launch four Astrocast 3U spacecraft aboard India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle

Photo ISRO

Spaceflight has announced that it will launch four Astrocast 3U spacecraft aboard India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) mission under a commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Limited. 

This mission, scheduled for October 2022, will launch from Sriharikota, India’s Satish Dhawan Space Center, carrying the Astrocast spacecraft as a co-passenger to sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) along with the Indian national primary satellite.

This launch represents Spaceflight’s eighth launch on a PSLV and its fourth supporting Astrocast’s nanosatellite Internet of Things (IoT) network and constellation. Once this mission is complete, Spaceflight will have launched 16 spacecraft in the Astrocast constellation, which enables companies to track and monitor assets in some of the world’s most remote regions.

“PSLV has long been a reliable and valuable launch partner to Spaceflight and we’re excited to work with NSIL again after the COVID-19 restrictions of the last few years,” said Curt Blake, CEO of Spaceflight. “By having experience working with many different launch providers around the world, we are able to identify missions that meet our customer's exact needs – whether that’s driven by schedule, cost or destination. As Astrocast builds its network and constellation, we can offer them a range of launch options, flexibility and customization to support their long-term plans.”

Spaceflight Inc. Prepares Propulsive Sherpa OTV to Launch on Upcoming Starlink Mission

Spaceflight Inc., the leading global launch services provider, today announced it shipped the fully integrated Sherpa-LTC orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) and customer payload to Cape Canaveral to launch aboard an upcoming Starlink mission scheduled for next month. The high-thrust propulsive Sherpa will deploy from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 targeting a 310-kilometre circular orbit, before igniting and transporting an undisclosed customer payload, booked through Astro Digital, to a 1,000-kilometer circular orbit.

Sherpa-LTC features a bi-propellant, green propulsion subsystem utilizing Benchmark Space Systems’ new Polaris propulsion technology. The revolutionary OTV provides a low-cost, rapid orbital transfer for many sizes of small spacecraft.

“Sherpa-LTC’s transportation capabilities coupled with the reliability and consistency of Starlink missions create an ideal solution for the customer’s unique mission needs,” said Curt Blake, CEO and president of Spaceflight. “Our OTV eliminates the barriers that make it more challenging for spacecraft to access uncommon orbits in LEO and beyond. We’re eager to continue to provide innovative, cost-effective, and dependable in-space transportation services for our customers and partners like Astro Digital.”

Spaceflight’s customer and technology partner on this mission, Astro Digital, designed and manufactured the payload launching on Sherpa-LTC, and provided the command and control system known as Makalu, for the Sherpa OTV.

Spaceflight deploys 16 payloads on SpaceX Transporter-1 mission

Spaceflight Inc., a global launch services provider, successfully launched and deployed 16 payloads, including 15 from its next-generation orbital transfer vehicle (OTV), Sherpa-FX1, aboard the SpaceX Transporter-1 mission. Dubbed SXRS-3 by Spaceflight, the mission launched January 24 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It delivered Spaceflight’s Sherpa-FX1 to Sun-Synchronous Low Earth Orbit (525 km alt), where it deployed payloads for more than 10 organizations.

Firefly Aerospace and Spaceflight Inc. Sign Launch Services Agreement

Part of a long-term strategic collaboration to meet the growing demand for reliable space access, the agreement establishes Spaceflight as the lead customer aboard upcoming Firefly Alpha launch

Firefly Aerospace, a leading provider of economical and dependable launch vehicles, spacecraft, and in-space services, and Spaceflight Inc., the leading launch services and mission management provider, today announced they have signed a Launch Services Agreement (LSA). The agreement confirms that Spaceflight will secure the majority of the payload mass aboard a Firefly Alpha launch, scheduled for liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in 2021.

In addition to being the anchor customer, Spaceflight will sign, manage, integrate, and deploy multiple payloads on the flight, enabling Firefly to maximize its full 630 kilogram launch capacity on the commercial Alpha mission to Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). Also, according to the LSA, Spaceflight will help maximize payload capacity aboard future Firefly Alpha launches.

Spaceflight to launch multiple Spacecraft from International Space Station via Cygnus

Spaceflight announced it is providing mission management and rideshare integration services on an upcoming launch from the International Space Station (ISS) and Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus launch vehicle. Spaceflight bought the capacity through an arrangement with Hypergiant SEOPS for a variety of customer spacecraft, including:

RFTSat from Northwest Nazarene University; selected for flight via NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative

NARSSCube-2 from NARSS-Egypt developed by researchers from NARSS-Egypt for technology demonstration and environmental study; launch was coordinated by Smart Integrators 

An undisclosed 6U Cubesat

Spaceflight’s First Rideshare Mission Aboard a Rocket Lab Electron Readies for Launch

Spaceflight, the leading satellite rideshare and mission management provider, today announced it will launch seven spacecraft from five organizations later this month on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 at the southern tip of Mahia Peninsula, on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. This mission, also called “Make It Rain” by Rocket Lab as a nod to the weather in both Seattle and New Zealand, represents Spaceflight’s first of five launches scheduled with Rocket Lab this year.

Spaceflight Prepares to Send 21 Rideshare Satellites Aboard PSLV C45

Spaceflight, the leading satellite rideshare and mission management provider, this week announced it will launch 21 spacecraft on a rideshare mission from India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) at India’s Satish Dhawan Space Center. The launch is scheduled for Monday, April 1, 2019, Indian Standard Time (Sun., March 31 PDT). Payloads aboard the mission include the Astrocast-02 3U cubesat from Switzerland-based Astrocast and Flock 4a, 20 next-generation Dove satellites from Planet.

Spaceflight to launch first privately funded lunar lander

Spaceflight, the leading satellite rideshare and mission management provider, has announced this week it will launch two payloads on its first rideshare mission to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). 

The mission is scheduled for no earlier than mid-February 2019 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launching from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

The primary payload on the mission is a telecommunications satellite for the South East Asia region. It was built by SSL, a Maxar Technologies company, which also procured the launch vehicle. Spaceflight will manage the launch of the two secondary payloads, Israeli non-profit SpaceIL’s lunar lander, and the U.S. Air Force Research Lab’s (AFRL) experimental small satellite, S5.