Breaking the bottleneck of shared space travel
In short: NASA is moving away from the 'ride-share' model for small satellites. This video explains the selection of new commercial vehicles designed to give small missions their own dedicated flight paths.
The Venture Class Launch Service (VCLS) competition aims to provide a dedicated launch class for small satellites, such as CubeSats and nanosatellites. Currently, these missions are often restricted to ride-share arrangements, meaning they can only fly when space becomes available on larger, pre-existing launches.
By selecting specific commercial vehicles to meet VCLS requirements, NASA is fostering an emerging class of launch services. This shift allows for more flexible, independent mission scheduling for science and commercial ventures that were previously sidelined by the limitations of shared transport.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: New Vehicles for New Ventures
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