List of launch service providers explained

A launch service provider is a type of company that uses launch vehicles and related services provided by a Launch Agency, including furnishing the launch vehicles, launch support, equipment and facilities, for the purpose of launching satellites into orbits or deep space.[1] There are over 100 launch companies from all over the world.[2] These companies and their launch vehicles are in various stages of development, with some (such as SpaceX, RocketLab, and ULA) already in regular operation, while others are not.[3]

In 2018, the launch services sector accounted for $5.5 billion out of a total $344.5 billion "global space economy".[4] It is responsible for the ordering, conversion or construction of the carrier rocket, assembly and stacking, payload integration, and ultimately conducting the launch itself. Some of these tasks may be delegated or sub-contracted to other companies. For example, United Launch Alliance formally subcontracted the production of GEM solid rocket motors for their Delta II and Delta IV (Medium version) rockets to Alliant Techsystems. (Both vehicles are now retired.)[5] [6] An LSP does not necessarily build all the rockets it launches.

A document central to successful launch service provision is the Interface Control Document (ICD), a contract that specifies the integration and mission requirements responsibilities across the service provider and the service solicitor.[7]

In some cases, an LSP is not required to launch a rocket. Government organizations such as the military and defense forces may conduct the launch themselves.

Current launch service providers

Former Corporate

Governmental and State-owned

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Launch Services Definition: 101 Samples . 2023-05-20 . Law Insider . en.
  2. Web site: Launch Service Providers . RocketLaunch.org.
  3. Web site: Launch Database SpaceFund . 2023-05-20 . en-US.
  4. The Annual Compendium of Commercial Space Transportation: 2018 . January 2018 . United States Government (Federal Aviation Administration) . 2022-04-21.
  5. Web site: 5 April 2016 . Propulsion Products Catalog . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20171107014333/https://www.orbitalatk.com/flight-systems/propulsion-systems/docs/2016%20OA%20Motor%20Catalog.pdf . 7 November 2017 . 3 November 2017 . Orbital ATK .
  6. Web site: Clark . Stephen . 14 September 2018 . Engineers say goodbye to society-changing Delta 2 rocket – Spaceflight Now . 2022-04-21 . Spaceflight Now . Pole Star Publications . en-US.
  7. Book: Federal Aviation Administration . Commercial Space Industry: Manufacturing, Suborbitals and Transportation . Nova Science Publishers . 2012 . 978-1-62257-303-5 . Freeman SO, Butler KI . Space Science, Exploration and Policies . New York . Commercial Space Transportation: 2011 Year in Review . This is an edited, reformatted and augmented version of the Federal Aviation Administration, HQ-121525.INDD, dated January 2012. . 2022-04-22 . registration.
  8. Moore . Maurice H. . Department of Defense Spacelift In A Fiscally Constrained Environment . February 2011 . MS (Master of Military Art and Science) . U.S. Army Command and General Staff College .
  9. Brooks . 1991 . Timothy A. . Regulating International Trade in Launch Services . subscription . . 6 . 1 . 66 . 24122277 . 0885-2715 . 2380-4734 . 2 July 2022.
  10. Web site: Heiney . Anna . 2018-04-10 . LSP Overview . 2023-05-20 . NASA.
  11. Web site: Mandate NSIL . 2023-08-02 . www.nsilindia.co.in.

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