SpaceX enters smallsat launch market with a very low price

Enlarge / A Falcon 9 rocket launches a GPS III satellite for the Air Force in December 2018. (credit: SpaceX)

On Monday, SpaceX announced a new, low-cost program to launch small satellites into a Sun-synchronous orbit. The company is offering rideshare opportunities for satellites weighing up to 150kg at the price of $2.25 million. The rideshare-only missions, flying aboard the company's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, will launch at regularly scheduled intervals.

"SpaceX is committed to serving the commercial market as it grows and changes," a spokesperson for the company said. "And we believe we can address the needs of small satellite operators by offering reliable, cost-effective access to orbit through regularly scheduled, dedicated rideshare missions."

The company has previously flown rideshare missions using its Falcon 9 rocket, but those flights were organized and integrated by a third-party provider, Spaceflight Industries. Now SpaceX will do all of that work directly for customers.

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