Celebrating Our Customers’ Most Successful Moments in 2022
Our most rewarding part of our own expansion and growth this past year is being able to work with more and more visionary companies with expertise and dedication that can’t be measured. We’re inspired every day by their creativity, imagination, and focus. We want to take a moment to celebrate with our customers who hit huge milestones this last year. Thank you for working with us! It means the universe to us!
Click through any of these links to read more detail about each customer’s success:
Arianespace: Fourth Launch of 2022 Carried a Total Payload of 10,972 kg
Axiom Space: Awarded $228M Task Order with NASA and First All-Private Astronaut Crew Returned from 17 Days On The ISS
Blue Origin: New Shepard Human Flight and Payload Success Missions
ClearSpace Today: Secured Major Contract with UK to Help Clean Up Space Debris
Firefly Aerospace: Alpha Rocket the First and Only Orbit-ready US Rocket
Gilmour Space: Launching Galactic Rideshare and Making More Space for Satellite Launches
Orbex Space: The First Full-Scale Microlauncher Rocket Developed in Europe
Phantom Space: Revolutionizing Space Commerce with Four New NASA Task Orders
Rocket Lab: Completes Final Launch Rehearsal and Selected by NASA to Launch TROPICS Mission
Satellogic: Helping Countries Around the World Have Access to High-Resolution, High-Frequency Satellite Imagery and Geospatial Data
Sierra Space: Successfully Completed Series of Major Development Milestones for First Commercial Space Station
Spinlaunch: 10th Successful Ground-based, Earth Powered Launch in One Year!
Stoke Space Technologies: 100% Reusable Rockets: “We took a leap of faith and jumped off a cliff.”
Stratolaunch: Completed First Flight! Routine Access to the Hypersonic Environment
World View: Launching a Stratopheric Balloon to Gather First-of-Its-Kind Data on Methane Emissions and The Future of Space Tourism
Arianespace | Fourth Launch of 2022 Carried a Total Payload of 10,972 kg
Arianespace serves international clients, and operates its launch services from South America in French Guiana. They started their journey in 1980 as the world’s first commercial space transformation company, and continue to produce many operational firsts and numerous record-setting missions.
Most recently, the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) system payload will help meteorologists meet one of their main challenges: the rapid detection and forecasting of severe weather events so that timely warning can be given to citizens, civil authorities and first responders.
The MTG-1 is the first satellite in a new system that will produce about 50 times more data for weather forecasters than its second-generation siblings. This creates faster, more precise information about weather events. Read all about the mission and its success here.
Working with Arianespace has been an honor, and we love seeing how adaptable they are to new technology and digital platforms.
Axiom Space | Awarded $228M Task Order with NASA and First All-Private Astronaut Crew Returned from 17 Days On The ISS
Axiom gets closer day by day to making its vision a reality–creating a thriving home in space for humanity with their universal access to Low Earth Orbit. With their new $228 million task order, they will be able to begin developing the next generation of astronaut spacesuits to support the Artemis lunar missions. NASA will land the first woman on the Moon wearing an Axiom xEVAS spacesuit beginning with Artemis III.
Earlier this year, on April 8, 2022, the Ax-1 first all-private astronaut mission launched and spent the following 17 days on the International Space Station where they conducted extensive research and STEM outreach. They circled the Earth approximately 240 times, and were part of the busiest science week on the ISS. Read more about this historical mission here.
Axiom is breaking barriers left and right, and it’s been one of the most rewarding experiences to work alongside them to help them achieve historic heights.
Blue Origin | New Shepard Human Flight and Payload Success Missions
Blue Origin is one of our most well-known customers, and we were extremely excited to announce our partnership earlier this year. It’s been rewarding to watch Blue Origin’s mission success as we’ve worked together to streamline their operations processes. Most of all, like most of you, we’ve been keen to see the success of their sixth human spaceflight mission while achieving three historic firsts:
Sara Sabry became the first person from Egypt to fly to space
Vanessa O’Brien became the first woman to reach extremes on land, (Mt. Everest), sea (Challenger Deep), and air (pass the Kármán line)--the Explorers’ Extreme Trifecta
Mário Ferreira became the first person from Portugal to fly to space
In August, Blue Origin launched New Shepard’s 23rd mission, a dedicated payload flight with 36 payloads from academia, research institutions, and students across the globe. This mission brought the total number of commercial payloads flows on the vehicle to more than 150.
Twenty-four payloads are from K-12 schools, universities, and STEM-focused organizations. This is double the number of education-focused payloads from previous payload flights. What is perhaps the most inspiring, is that despite earlier uncrewed mission failures, their escape system worked incredibly well.
Blue Origin is always inspiring awe with their vision and missions. 2023 is bound to deliver even more culture changing initiatives. We are thrilled to be partnering with them! Read more about what 2022 looked like for Blue Origin.
ClearSpace Today | Secured Major Contract with UK to Help Clean Up Space Debris
After the company successfully completed a feasibility study of the CLEAR mission to remove two UK-registered derelict objects from low Earth orbit, they have been awarded a follow-up contract by the UK Space Agency for £2.2M.
Debris removal is expected to be the fastest growing segment of in-orbit services (IOS) due to increasingly congested orbits. The CLEAR mission will remove two derelict UK objects which have been inactive for more than 10 years. These objects would have stayed in orbit for a projected time of 100 years before they would have naturally re-entered the atmosphere.
Satellites and the expansion of the space industry will definitely help humanity, but making sure we find a way to maintain objects in orbit is at the top of the list for ClearSpace. They execute missions that actively clean up space while also trailblazing the technologies for future commercial debris removal.
Our team is thrilled to be working with such a visionary company to make sure all our space endeavors don’t end up as indefinite debris in the sky.
Firefly Aerospace | Alpha Rocket the First and Only Orbit-ready US Rocket
On October 1, 2022, Firefly launched their Alpha FLTA002 mission which successfully reached orbit and deployed customer payloads. This successful mission makes Firefly the first and only US commercial space company with an orbit-ready rocket that will take customers to space in the 1300kg payload lift class.
The rocket progressed flawlessly through each flight stage, successfully completing a circularization burn with confirmation of final payload deployment at approximately T+1 hour–one of the most technically challenging aspects of the mission. Firefly is firmly on the path of developing a family of launch vehicles, in-space vehicles, and services to provide industry-leading affordability, convenience, and reliability to its government and commercial customers.
Firefly’s customers will be able to take advantage of the mature technology and team expertise to participate in any of next year’s scheduled six Alpha launches, and 12 more in 2024. Epsilon3 is honored to be part of the Firefly mission! Well done, team! Read more about their successful launch and customer payloads here.
Gilmour Space | Launching Galatic Rideshare and Making More Space for Satellite Launches
Gilmour Space is on schedule to launch its first payload into low earth orbit next year, and announced plans for a rideshare mission in 2024, Caravan-1, that will deliver multiple payloads into space in a single rocket. This Australian-based company will launch its first Eris vehicle from the company’s Bowen Orbital Spaceport in north Queensland.
Caravan-1 will deliver a host of customer payloads such as cubesats, microsats and other small spacecraft, creating more affordable access to new space customers. Earlier this year, they were awarded $15 million to develop and launch a sovereign surveillance satellite for the Australian Defense Force.
Gilmour Space is leading the way for the Australian space industry to become Australian-owned and operated. After a global pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the rise in natural disasters due to climate change, Gilmour sees a great need for Australia’s space industry to become sovereign.
We love working with them and their passion for space. 2023 is sure to be exciting and successful for this company! Keep an eye on them here.
Orbex Space | The First Full-Scale Microlauncher Rocket Developed in Europe
The Orbex Space team successfully built the first full-scale microlauncher rocket in Europe. The launch vehicle is built from state-of-the-art carbon fiber structures and tanks, which helps it deliver enormous strength with very low mass. They recently revealed their “Prime” rocket in its final form. The rocket is 19-meters long, and is a two-stage rocket designed to transport small satellites weighing up to 180 kg into low Earth orbit.
They also secured £40.4 million in their Series-C funding which will allow them to scale up its resources as it counts down to their first vertical launch from UK soil. Their technology and innovation has the power to transform not only how we communicate through satellite infrastructure, but also how we tackle society-wide challenges such as climate change.
We are incredibly excited to see how Orbex Space grows and innovate in the upcoming year. It’s a great pleasure to work with them towards their first launch from UK soil.
Phantom Space | Revolutionizing Space Commerce with Four New NASA Task Orders
Just this past November, Phantom Space announced it was awarded four new NASA task orders to launch CubeSat Satellites into space as part of the new VADR (Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated Rideshare) contract. These missions are intended to meet the agency’s need for NASA payloads while simultaneously nurturing the development of new launch vehicles.
“The new contracts will help us launch a Golden Age of commercial space, and it’s and honor to have NASA on board–their leadership is invaluable to the space industry, and we are proud to help their programs expand humanity’s knowledge of our planet, solar system, and beyond.” -Mark Lester, Phantom Space COO
Read more about their reusable constellation launcher, Laguna, or the most cost-effective small-payload rocket, Daytona here. We’re proud and honored to be part of their mission to make space more accessible.
Rocket Lab | Completes Final Launch Rehearsal and Selected by NASA to Launch TROPICS Mission
Rocket Lab has had consistent success throughout 2022–it was hard to pick just a couple to highlight! Most recently, Rocket Lab completed its final launch rehearsal ahead of the first Electron mission from U.S. Soil. They are now targeting a January 2023 launch date for their first Electron launch from the U.S. What a way to start off the new year!
In November, the company announced they had been selected by NASA to launch the first Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission. The mission will consist of two low-Earth orbital planes. The launches are scheduled to take place no earlier than May 1, 2023.
TROPICS targets the formation and evolution of tropical cyclones, including hurricanes, and will provide rapidly updating observations of storm intensity as well as the horizontal and vertical structures of temperature and humidity within the storms and their surrounding environments. All of this will help scientists improve high-impact storm modeling and prediction.
We’ve been incredibly grateful to partner with Rocket Lab this year as they’ve hit milestone after milestone. Here’s to another year and beyond! Read more about their success stories here.
Satellogic | Helping Countries Around the World Have Access to High-Resolution, High-Frequency Satellite Imagery and Geospatial Data
Satellogic is making good on its word to bring space down to earth with a cost-effective, vertically integrated business model. This past year, they were an integral part of helping Albania secure the exclusive use of two satellites for a 3-year period for the monitoring of the territory of Albania, the development of technical and professional capacities, for the use of the satellite service, the processing of geospatial information and the provision of imaging products.
They also recently announced that they are working with Mexico to explore a dedicated earth observation program. Satellogic signed a letter of intent with Mexico’s space agency for a dedicated satellite constellation to deliver multi-spectral imaging. Their constellation-as-a-service program will establish a whole new level of Earth observation autonomy for countries all over the world to service many programs across defense, agriculture, maritime security and census plus geography, enriching data resources for the respective agencies managing them.
It’s been incredibly exciting to watch Satellogic literally change the world and make a significant contribution to actually solving some of our world’s biggest problems like feeding nine billion people sustainably and meeting our energy needs without depleting resources for future generations. Thank you for letting us come along for the ride, Satellogic!
Sierra Space | Successfully Completed Series of Major Development Milestones for First Commercial Space Station
With a mission to build a platform in space to benefit life on Earth, Sierra space aims On their mission to build the first end-to-end business and technology platform in space. They recently announced that they completed their second subscale Ultimate Burst Pressure (UBP) test. This second test further established Sierra Space as the leader in commercial space station development and the only active commercial space company to meet multiple successful UBP trials.
The company’s LIFE (Large Integrated Flexible Environment) forms part of the company’s in-space destinations technology portfolio. The inflatable module is an impression three-story commercial habitation and science platform designed for low-Earth orbit, which will allow humans to live and work comfortably in space.
Full-scale LIFE UBP tests begin again in 2023 to complete NASA’s certification of the habitat’s primary structure for human use in space. It’s been such a pleasure working with Sierra Space to help them on their mission to make sure everything is streamlined and integrated.
Spinlaunch | 10th Successful Ground-based, Earth Powered Launch in One Year!
Using a rotating arm that can sling small satellites into near-Earth space, Spinlaunch made its 10th successful test launch in less than a year. Spinlaunch has developed a new way to get to space that is substantially less expensive and environmentally sustainable. Their Subortibal Accelerator came to life in October 2021, and they’ve already had ten successful launches!
Their tenth flight hosted a range of third-party experiments including from NASA, Airbus, and Cornell University. With a crowd of 150 visiting observers, the accelerator fired its flight vehicle into the air. The team’s ability to perform ten tests in just eleven months and have them all function as planned is a testament to the nature of their technology.
Beyond a successful test launch, the customer payloads launched by the accelerator survived up to 10,000 Gs as the 108-foot-long spinning arm that sped the up the payload faster than the speed of sound. We couldn’t be happier for them! What a memorable year for the Spinlaunch team. We love working with them, and can’t wait to see what 2023 has in store. Read more about their tenth launch here.
Stoke Space Technologies | 100% Reusable Rockets: “We took a leap of faith and jumped off a cliff.”
For some, rapidly reusable rockets seemed like a someday in the future reality in the space industry that would gradually come about. But after working in the industry for over a decade with another one of our rockstar customers, Blue Origin, Andy Lapsa realized that not only were rapidly reusable rockets possible, they are the inevitable end state for the industry. And he set out to make it all happen sooner than anyone could imagine when he founded Stoke Space Technologies alongside Tom Feldmen.
This past year they raised another $65 million to help them reach their goal of low-cost, regular access to space a whole lot faster. Raising money wasn’t easy at first for the inexperienced fundraising founders. But, it turns out Andy and Tom aren’t the only ones who know a reusable rocket is possible not just in the future, but now. Stoke Space started building a reusable rocket from day one despite the fact that no company or government has ever flown one.
After three years since the company’s start, they have built a second-stage engine, a prototype for a second stage, turbopumps, and manufacturing facilities. With 72 people on the team, they’ve started to test-fire their upper-stage engines at a facility in Moses Lake, Washington.
We’re incredibly excited to be partners with Stoke Space as they continue to bring the future into today. Well done! Read more about their success this year here.
Stratolaunch | Completed First Flight! Routine Access to the Hypersonic Environment
2022 has been a very busy and successful year for Stratolaunch. It’s almost too hard to know where to start, but, of course, there’s nothing quite as exciting as a first flight. Last fall, Stratolaunch completed its first captive carry flight with its Talon-A separation vehicle integrated with Roc’s (the world’s largest flying aircraft built and operated by Stratolaunch) center wing pylon. The flight focused on measuring the aerodynamic loads on the Talon-A vehicle. They conducted a variety of ground tests in anticipation of this first flight to help them build confidence that the hardware would perform exactly as it was designed.
The Stratolaunch Roc Aircraft made its seventh flight, and reached new heights at an altitude of 27,000 feet above the Mojave Desert in June 2022. The flight demonstrated the team’s ability to increase operational tempo to the desired frequent hypersonic pace for their customers.
Their success has earned them a contract with the U.S. Air Force research laboratory to support the flight test of the company’s first expendable Talon-A hypersonic test vehicle, TA-1. They expect to fly TA-1 in the first quarter of 2023. Take a look at everything they accomplished in 2022, and be prepared to be inspired! Of course, we’re excited to be working with Stratolaunch, and cannot wait to see what they achieve in 2023!
World View | Launching a Stratopheric Balloon to Gather First-of-Its-Kind Data on Methane Emissions and The Future of Space Tourism
World View’s mission to explore the stratosphere is guided by a desire to inspire humankind beyond awe for space and to actually understand and appreciate the planet we all share. Their patented zero-pressure balloon is designed to ensure a safe and spectacular journey, and has a proven track record of 115+ successful flights.
Most recently, they’ve teamed up with Scepter to launch methane-detection balloons in Texas’ Permian Basin. The balloon sensors will allow them to turn on their methane information service offering now, and carry hyperspectral sensors operating in short-wave infrared to get a detailed level of data never before commercially deployed.
The balloons will reveal intermittent leaks in oil- and gas-production. The balloons can dwell over an area on a 24/7 basis, rather than relying or drones that fly over briefly, often missing leaks. You can read more about it here.
World View is also making space tourism more accessible and realistic for more people. Their stratospheric journeys are 6-8 hours long, and allow space tourists to view the curvature of the Earth and the stars from a peak altitude at approximately 100,000 feet against the darkness of space. Get ready to experience overwhelming feelings of awe, transcendence and connection with humanity as a whole.
Working with World View has been nothing short of inspiring. Their vision for our future in space is irresistible.
