Don't forget OHB daughter company RFA, with their RFA one Launcher. And the most interesting ones are more secretive.I think PLDspace is the least mature of them all in nearly all technical aspects.The EU is funding a lot of low TRL R&D projects for reusability. It might enable full small launcher reusability. Orbex is losing acces to this because of it being a British/Danish company. Brexit But Orbex is the only one that has done full engine tests. (PLD space is developing a suborbital rocket)
Quote from: trimeta on 11/23/2020 08:07 pmA couple of companies (Orbex, Isar Aerospace, PLD Space) have discussed reuse previously, so it wouldn't come completely out of the blue with them.Thanks for those links.Based on a quick look over PLD looks like the furthest into recovery development with parachute work. The others have made mention of recovery but it's unclear if that's months, or years, away from becoming a part of actual hardware. There's a pretty big difference between "It's on our (eventual) road map" and "We're drop testing stag simulators under helicopters." None of them have achieved first flight and given how difficult that has proved for other competitors that's a big achievement right there. I'll wish them all luck. 2021 and 2021 should both be pretty exciting years.
A couple of companies (Orbex, Isar Aerospace, PLD Space) have discussed reuse previously, so it wouldn't come completely out of the blue with them.
Most of these small LVs can use RL's recovery system which means they can start with ELV and add recovery system without having to design new RLV. I'd guess they'd add reentry control thrusters and start collecting reentry data after first few flights.
Being late to this market may actually be and advantage now. RL invested lot money in building factory to produce 12-20 ELVs are year. New comers only need to produce handful of LVs a year knowing they will be flying RLVs within couple years with factory mainly building expendable 2nd stages and fairing.
Beck has confirmed reuse of Electron is all go, in doing so RL have raised bar for their small LV competitors. Good news for competitors, RL has shown them are way to do reuse which most can use, larger ones may need reentry burn but they also have more mass margins to play with. Most importantly their investors shouldn't have any problems backing low risk upgrade which generates high returns. At this stage an operational ELV would be massive achievement for RL's competitors, reuse will be ways down track for most of them.
Time will tell if Beck has blind sided every other competitor, who was caught short but is agile enough to be playing catch up and who has been thinking on similar lines since day one and planning to move straight into it (although I would have guessed if anyone had that plan they would have made a point of emphasizing it when they came out of stealth mode).
2021 Spectrum Germany ISAR Aerospace
Failed: Vector, Boeing XS-1
I can't find any previous mentions of it here, but this sounds like an other company working on a new rocket?https://www.spaceryde.com/They want to launch from a stratospheric balloon, and have prototyped out the balloon and carrier for the rocket, that I can see.
So you either need to make very cheap balloons
Quote from: john smith 19 on 12/20/2020 05:34 amSo you either need to make very cheap balloonsEvery weather balloon released has been disposable, they're mass-produced cheap commodity items. $100/kg lifted is a reasonable ballpark estimate if you were to cluster CotS balloons, cost/kg lifted would reduce as diameter increases.
Here is an article on the topic of smallsat launchers:Ten companies bid for NASA small launch vehicle contracthttps://spacenews.com/ten-companies-bid-for-nasa-small-launch-vehicle-contract/
Phantom Space Corporation was founded to revolutionize the way we transport satellites and space assets into space, through space, and back to Earth. Our compliment of launch, propulsion and satellite solutions lowers the entry barriers to space access and enables a widening demographic access to space and space technology. Phantom Space is a late stage start-up and has been quietly working on satellite, propulsion and launch vehicle systems since its founding in 2019. We bring decades of experience in launch, propulsion, and satellite systems from SpaceX, Commercial startups, DoD space, Vector Launch and NASA.
Phoenix Launch Systems, Inc. is a nanosatellite systems and service company on a mission to operate the first dedicated cubesat-class reusable launch system that allows for regular, scheduled orbital access at an unprecedented rate and cost. We are developing technologies to enable a complete end-to-end solution for reliable commercial access to space. We provide launch services with our Phoenix vehicle as well as cubesat systems sales and mission integration services.Phoenix Launch Systems was incorporated in early 2019 by a group of both new and experienced aerospace engineers. Phoenix Launch Systems’ nanolauncher heritage traces back to the 1990s, and its mission hence has expanded from technology development to the creation of a dedicated nanosatellite launch service and turnkey space utilization solutions. Development work has been ongoing since 2016 – prior to our incorporation – for our nanosatellite hardware line and launch vehicle technology.
