We’re back from Smallsat! It was a great week, and we enjoyed connecting in person with so many partners, customers and industry professionals. According to SpaceNews, at least 3,600 people attended the conference in Logan, including 200 who just showed up and registered on-site.The program was inspiring and informative as well, as we listened to and learned from government and commercial space organizations about their upcoming missions, new technologies and plans for the future in the new economy and ecosystem of space. Here are a few of the themes we saw again and again – in meetings, presentations and conversations in Logan.
Sustainability. This one has been a priority for the last few years. There is a growing and urgent need for debris tracking, mitigation and removal. We discussed this in a recent blog post. This is part of the larger need for infrastructure servicing as more spacecraft enter LEO and beyond.
Flexibility. One thing never changes: the space business is always changing. Customers need mission-driven, cost-effective solutions that can adapt to changing needs. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for the wide range of missions needed by the diverse organizations that need to get on orbit. Customers need adaptable, modular spacecraft, multiple launch options, and plans that minimize costs without jeopardizing missions.
Commercial industry driving innovation and US government funding major initiatives. This isn’t the 60’s space race anymore. Commercial entities are driving incredible innovation and hiring the next generation of innovators and big thinkers. At the same time, the private and VC funding has slowed a bit, especially since the SPAC frenzy of 2022. Now, government contracts are increasingly funding the innovation, in a new era of public/private partnerships and space growth.
Increased needs beyond LEO. We’ve long believed the future is beyond LEO and now the market conversations are indicating others have caught up. There are so many applications and needs for access, from human transport to communications and SSA/SDA. The infrastructure is just starting to be built, and the requirements are very different from LEO. It’s not a matter of just taking LEO missions and spacecraft and moving them further out. Much has to be designed specifically for these orbits. We also need more launches going to these orbits, and vehicles designed specifically for these harsh environments. (Check out our Ranger which fits the bill here)
International community is growing. We’re impressed by the growing number of partnerships around the world, as organizations work to get to orbit and complete missions as efficiently as possible. We see organizations (like ourselves) who are becoming vertically integrated to mitigate supply chain issues, or are creating partnerships to buy components to take advantage of economies of scale and to focus on their own sweet spot of expertise.
Our Chief Strategy Office Phil Bracken summed it up. “It’s an exciting and pivotal time to be offering GEO/Cislunar services. Our SmallSat meetings reinforced that commercial and governmental organizations have growing needs for transportation, infrastructure and services beyond LEO, and we're happy to be here to meet that need."
We’re already looking forward to next year, where we will again meet with our customers and partners and share more milestone updates. A special thanks to our friends who came to our event in Utah. See you next year!
