Satnews Daily
September 12th, 2010

SpaceX + Astrium... Falcon Finds European Possibilities (Launch Services)



Falcon 1 launch vehicle
[SatNews] Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Astrium have engaged in a commercial agreement to provide dedicated launch services to the European institutional small satellite market.

Under the agreement, Astrium intends to work with SpaceX to market Falcon 1 launch capabilities to various space agencies and other institutional customers in Europe for launches to take place through 2015. With dedicated launch services, customers with very small payloads can launch independently to low-Earth orbit, giving them greater control over launch and launch schedule. With the Falcon 1, these services can be provided at the world's lowest cost per flight when compared to any other launch service provider. Falcon launch vehicles are designed to provide breakthrough advances in reliability, cost, and time to launch. The primary design driver is reliability — nothing is more important than getting a customer's spacecraft safely to its intended destination.