/sci/ - Science & Math

>>15684481
> Many Transporter customers, though, don’t sign up directly with SpaceX but instead with several companies that serve as aggregators. Those companies line up customers and arrange to host them on Transporter missions, in some cases offering additional services like orbital transfer vehicles that can deploy those satellites into different orbits. The most recent Transporter launch, Transporter-8 in June, included payloads arranged by D-Orbit, Exolaunch, Launcher, Maverick Space Systems, and Momentus, in addition to customers that worked directly with SpaceX.

> Those and other companies, like ISILaunch, SEOPS, and, until recently, Spaceflight, have worked for many years to find rideshare launch opportunities on launch vehicles around the world. (Spaceflight, a pioneer in rideshare launches, was acquired in June by Firefly Aerospace, who said it would not accept any new customers for Spaceflight so it could focus on its own launch services.) The introduction of Transporter missions, with both a regular cadence as well as large capacity, has been a godsend to aggregators.

> “SpaceX has completely changed the paradigm of rideshare launches,” said Jeanne Allarie, chief commercial officer of Exolaunch. “Rideshare launches have never been so reliable and affordable.”