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> SpaceX can take far more cargo to space, but Rocket Lab is pitching its nimbleness and low-cost as ways to give new customers access to space and to do so on
by scottmsul 8y ago
> SpaceX can take far more cargo to space, but Rocket Lab is pitching its nimbleness and low-cost as ways to give new customers access to space and to do so on a more convenient schedule.
Weren't small low-cost launches the original goal of SpaceX? I recall Elon saying there wasn't actually that much demand, which is why they were forced to scale up in the first place. Has the market changed recently for small low-cost launches?
- rory096 8y agoYes, the smallsat market has grown immensely over the last decade.[0] The propagation of larger CubeSat standards and the advent of rideshare in particular have driven growth. Many companies (Rocket Lab, Virgin Orbit, Vector, Relativity...) are now betting that demand is sufficient to support at least a handful of dedicated smallsat launchers to avoid the hassles & delays that come from rideshare. [0] http://www.scielo.br/img/revistas/jatm/v9n3//2175-9146-jatm-09-03-0269-gf01.jpg http://www.scielo.br/img/revistas/jatm/v9n3//2175-9146-jatm-..., via http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2175-91462017000300269 http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2175...