[AR] big shared launches (was Re: Merritt ... Falcon Heavy?
- From: Henry Spencer <hspencer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Arocket List <arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2019 16:07:03 -0400 (EDT)
On Wed, 26 Jun 2019, Elliot Robert wrote:
I've had this same thought. Obviously this is a bubble that has to pop.
I wonder how many of these small sat tech startups require a uncommon
orbit to carry out their mission such as polar or high eccentricity
orbits that the big dogs won't be flying to in bulk.
Almost any communications or Earth-observation constellation absolutely
must have at least high-inclination orbits, if not outright polar. (On
the Gulf Stream coast of Europe in particular, there are cities, farms,
etc. at quite high latitudes. Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg
are all at about 60degN, and civilization goes up considerably farther.)
Moreover, comms and EO constellations generally want quite *precise*
orbits, not the catch-as-catch-can you tend to get with shared launches.
To maintain their planned coverage patterns, they need precisely-chosen
orbital altitudes and inclinations -- different for each company -- and
serious orbital maneuvering is expensive in fuel mass.
This Falcon Heavy launch was an anomaly, not the thin end of the wedge.
The primary customer was cost-insensitive, had plenty of payload mass to
spare, and had political reasons for encouraging hitchhikers. The launch
supplier probably gave them a steep discount, given the relatively-new
rocket and the chance to do an in-space demo of multi-burn maneuvering
capability (with customers who weren't likely to sue if things didn't go
quite perfectly). This isn't likely to happen routinely.
Henry
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