Multiple Small Satellite Launch Vehicles Under Development

There are at least 20 launch vehicles under development around the world designed to launch small satellite payloads weighing up to 1,000 kg (2,205 lb).

That was the conclusion of a recent survey by Carlos Niederstrasser and Warren Frick of Orbital ATK. They presented their results in a paper titled, “Small Launch Vehicles – A 2015 State of the Industry Survey,” during the Smallsat 2015 conference in Utah last month.

The authors identified active launcher programs according to a set of criteria. They did not attempt to assess the viability of any of the rockets being developed.  And there may be some projects they missed.

The tables below are adapted from the paper. I’ve combined several of their tables into single ones. I’ve also made some minor changes due to some developments that have occurred since the paper was written. For example, Virgin Galactic has increased the payload for LauncherOne. And the Kodiak Launch Complex has been renamed as the Pacific Spaceport Complex — Alaska.

SMALL SATELLITE LAUNCH VEHICLES

As shown, the launch vehicles cover quite a range of orbits and payloads, ranging from 4 kg (8.8 lb) to 760 kg (1,676 lb). Most of the vehicles are being developed by small startups, although you will notice the presence of larger companies such as Orbital ATK, which has two active launch vehicles, and Lockheed Martin, which is upgrading the older Athena rocket family.

Another aerospace giant, Boeing, is developing its ALASA launch vehicle under a DARPA contract. Vention’s smaller SALVO air-launched rocket also was developed with defense funding under the ALASA program.

The majority of the launch vehicles are American; in two case, there is U.S. participation with partners in New Zealand and Romania. Spain, Switzerland, Russia and Canada are also represented.

The table below shows the different launch methods and locations used for the launch vehicles.

LAUNCH METHODS & LOCATIONS

Ten of the vehicles use some form of air launch, including two using reusable suborbital system and a third using a high-altitude balloon. The rest are launched from the ground.

As mentioned, Virgin Galactic recently increased the payload capacity to 200 kg (441 lb) for sun synchronous orbit and 400+ kg (882+ lb) for LEO. This puts the company in direct competition with Firefly Space Systems, which is advertising a similar payload range for its ground-based launcher. Firefly is run by Tom Markusic, who used to Virgin Galactic’s vice president of propulsion.