Seattle-based Spaceflight Industries is closing in on what’s shaping up as a grand convergence in commercial space.
Spaceflight, which handles launch logistics for small satellites, is nearly ready for its most ambitious mission yet: the “dedicated rideshare” launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that will deliver 64 satellites to a pole-to-pole, sun-synchronous orbit.
The SSO-A mission, also known as the SmallSat Express, is due to lift off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Dec. 3, with SpaceX providing a webcast. The launch has been postponed several times, most recently on Dec. 1, due to the need for additional inspections and concerns about high-altitude winds at the launch site.
