SpinLaunch has won an order to launch an initial 280 small satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO). The scheme is called Meridian Space and is backed by Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace and valued at €122.5 million.

SpinLaunch, headquartered in Long Beach, California, but launches using its own technology from a site in the Mojave Desert. The company says it will hold a demo launch next year. However, the firm has overall plans to launch 1,190 satellites into its constellation.

The initial 280-craft are best described as ‘micro-satellites’ and will be launched using a conventional rocket. But the SpinLaunch concept uses its vacuum chamber kinetic centrifuge spin apparatus. The company says it continues its commitment to low-cost, high-cadence kinetic launch by partnering with The Aleut Corporation to develop the Orbital Launch System on Adak, Alaska.

“SpinLaunch was founded on a bold commitment to deliver a more sustainable, cost-effective approach to launching satellite constellations – a vision that logically involved considering our own global network from the outset,” said David Wrenn, CEO at SpinLaunch. “We are now excited to officially bring our low-cost, dynamic communications service to enterprise customers worldwide.”

These satellites are suitable for broadband usage. Over time, Meridian Space will deliver dozens of terabits per second of global capacity with a constellation of 1,190 high-throughput satellites, as originally outlined in the company’s 2021 spectrum fillings.

Other posts by :

1. Russian satellite tumbling out of control
2. FCC boss praises AST SpaceMobile
3. Rakuten makes historic satellite video call
4. Rocket Lab confirms D2C ambitions
5. Turkey establishes satellite production ecosystem
6. Italy joins Germany in IRIS2 alternate thoughts
7. Kazakhstan to create museum at Yuri Gagarin launch site
8. AST SpaceMobile gets $42 or $1500 price target
9. Analyst: GEO bloodbath taking place

Categories: Blogs, Inside Satellite, Satellite

Tags: satellite, spinlaunch