Abstract
Due to the lower production costs, maturity of commercial off-the-shelf technologies, and flexibility to adapt to technological change cycles, Smallsats are rapidly gaining in importance, in particular in the New Space Economy. Several new applications such as mega-constellations and clusters of Smallsats contribute to this trend. The average mass of Smallsats has been increasing over recent years as technology demonstration satellites move toward commercial technology deployment using larger platforms and more power supply, and it is forecast that this trend will continue to increase. This leads to an increased interest in dedicated Micro-launchers, avoiding the disadvantages of shared piggyback launching, in particular in terms of launch delays. Several of these launchers are under development, and this article is intended to qualify the market for such Micro-launchers allowing to launch up to 500 kg in low Earth orbit. At the same time, the launch site location needs to be taken into account to allow for the required high launch cadences demanded by NewSpace business models as well as optimal orbit insertion and maximal launch window flexibility with minimal interference on air and maritime traffic. The example of a launch site in the southern hemisphere, in particular in Southern Australia, is presented, describing its features to comply with these requirements.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.