Taking the wraps of its much talked about and hugely anticipated rocket ride-share program, SpaceX has made live a new webtool, that lets you book rockets for your payloads. And it isn’t that we are trying to make it sound simple, it really is as simple as booking your next flight, a testament to Elon Musk’s repeated stress on making rocket launches simpler and affordable.
The pricing too is pretty reasonable. These launches start at as low as $1 Million for a payload of upto 200 kgs. to SSO (Sun Synchronous Orbit) with additional mass at $5k/kg. Affordable rates also available to mid-inclination LEO, GTO, and TLI.
All of these rides shall take place aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX’s most trustworthy space workhorse and the world’s first orbital class reusable rocket. The tool allows you to go into details of your booking. It first asks you to choose the orbit where you wish to place your satellite — SSO, LEO or POLAR orbits. You then select a “No Earlier Then” date. This is perhaps meant to help SpaceX group multiple launches together based on the dates selected. You can then input the estimated payload mass of your satellite, and you’re done.
And this isn’t merely a lead generation form wherein SpaceX will get back to you. Once you are confirmed and you certify that you’re not subject to any actions or International Traffic in Arms (ITAR) restrictions imposed by the U.S. government, you can put in a credit card number to instantly pay $5,000 as a deposit. Rest of the amount can be cleared in three installments, equivalent to your total booking amount.
Technically speaking, SpaceX is currently provide ride booking for 15” and 24” ESPA class ports. For larger spacecraft, custom configurations and a top slot are available upon request. For payloads that do not fit in the 15″ port category, they need to get in touch with SpaceX directly for details.
The entire idea behind this SpaceX smallsat is revolutionary in itself. Just imagine, you could simply put in $5000 to book a slot to send something to space! Of course this is for those who are serious into the space business, but this could definitely go a long way in enthusing folks like academic institutions. They now get a straight, fair and open window to send payloads to space. We will keep a close watch on the developments that happen through this smallsat program. Stay tuned!
