Displaying items by tag: launch service

International Launch Services (ILS) is a U.S.-Russian joint venture with exclusive rights to the worldwide sale of commercial Proton rocket launch services from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

ILS was formed in 1995 as a private spaceflight partnership between Lockheed Martin, Khrunichev and Energia.

Khrunichev Research and Production Space Center is a Moscow-based producer of spacecraft and space-launch systems, including the Proton and Rokot rockets.

The company's history dates back to 1916, when an automobile factory was established outside Moscow. It soon switched production to airplanes and during World War II produced Ilyushin Il-4 and Tupolev Tu-2 bombers. A design bureau, OKB-23, was added to the company in 1951. In 1959, the company started developing intercontinental ballistic missiles, and later spacecraft and space launch vehicles. The company designed and produced all Soviet space stations, including Mir. OKB-23, renamed to Salyut Design Bureau, became an independent company in 1988. In 1993, the Khrunichev Plant and the Salyut Design Bureau were joined again to form Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center.

In the 1990s, the company entered the International Launch Services joint-venture to market launches on its Proton rocket. Khrunichev subsequently became a successful launch service provider on the international space launch market.

Eurockot Launch Services GmbH is a commercial spacecraft launch provider. It was founded in 1995.

Eurockot uses an expendable launch vehicle called the Rockot to place satellites into Low-Earth orbit (LEO). Eurockot is jointly owned by EADS Astrium, which holds 51 percent, and by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, which holds 49 percent. Eurockot launches from dedicated launch facilities at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.

Spaceflight was founded in 2009 to address the emerging market for a launch services provider dedicated to the small and secondary payload market.

Spaceflight’s model allows payloads to be rapidly manifested, certified, integrated and flown to space by providing a single one-stop shop that manifests and integrates payloads for a range of emerging launch and space transportation vehicles, maximizing flight opportunities, at published commercial pricing. 

Spaceflight has established partnerships with prominent launch vehicle providers such as SpaceX, Orbital Sciences and Virgin Galactic as well as other key firms such as ISL Space Solutions, Moog/CSA, and Spaceflight’s sister company Andrews Space to help develop innovative solutions to meet government and commercial customers’ space transportation needs. Spaceflight has launch contracts to fly secondary payloads on the Orbital Antares, SpaceX Falcon 9, and Russian Soyuz and Dnepr vehicles.

Launch Services Alliance is a partneship between several space companies to offer launch services.

It was created in July 2003: Arianespace joined with Boeing Launch Services and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to create the Launch Services Alliance. The flagship launchers for the Launch Services Alliance are Arianespace's Ariane rocket, Boeing's Sea Launch platform and Mitsubishi's H-II A vehicle.

The agreement enables customers to seamlessly transition among three private spaceflight platforms for maximum flexibility to ensure delivery to orbit while allowing the Alliance's three members to retain their marketing autonomy. The arrangement is roughly comparable to the airline industry's "code sharing" agreements.

Astrotech Corporation, formerly Spacehab Inc., is an aerospace company headquartered in Austin, Texas, USA, which provides commercial space products and services (to NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, etc.). 

The Company changed its name to Astrotech Corporation in 2009 to align the corporate name with the company's core business offering, Astrotech Space Operation. Astrotech Space Operations provides support necessary for government and commercial customers to process their satellite hardware for launch, including planning; construction and use of unique equipment and facilities; and spacecraft checkout, encapsulation, fueling, and transport. In its 29 year history, Astrotech has supported the processing of more than 290 spacecraft.

Antrix Corporation Limited is commercial wing of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The name "Antrix" is an anglicized version of Antariksh, from the Sanskrit word for "space" or "sky".

Antrix Corporation Limited is a wholly owned Government of India Company under the administrative control of the Department of Space, Government of India. Antrix Corporation Limited was incorporated as a private limited company owned by Government of India, in September 1992 as a Marketing arm of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for promotion and commercial exploitation of space products, technical consultancy services and transfer of technologies developed by ISRO. Another major objective is to facilitate development of space related industrial capabilities in India.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing. ULA was formed in December 2006 by combining the teams at these companies which provide spacecraft launch services to the government of the United States. U.S. government launch customers include both the Department of Defense and NASA, as well as other organizations.

ULA provides launch services using three expendable launch systems – Delta II, Delta IV andAtlas V. The Atlas and Delta launch system families have been used for more than 50 years to carry a variety of payloads including weather, telecommunications and national security satellites, as well as deep space and interplanetary exploration missions in support of scientific research. ULA has also provided launch services for non-government satellites. 

Arianespace was founded in 1980 as the world’s first satellite launch company. Today, it has 21 shareholders from 10 European countries. Since its creation, Arianespace has launched with Ariane launchers 298 payloads, accounting for more than half of the commercial satellites now in service worldwide.

In 2010, the company had revenues of 897 M€. As of 1st July 2011, Arianespace had 332 employees, including 258 at the company’s headquarters in Evry, near Paris, 63 at the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, launch site for Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega, and 11 at local offices in Washington DC (United States), Tokyo (Japan) and Singapore.

Arianespace offers launch service & solutions to satellite operators from around the world, including both private companies and government agencies, based on a complete family of launchers:

• Ariane 5 heavy-lift launch vehicle, operated at the Guiana Space Center (60 launches, including 46 successful launches in a row),  
• Soyuz medium launcher, which has been operated at Baikonur since 1999 (23 commercial launches, all successful), and which, after the success of the first launch on 21 October 2011, is now being operated at the Guiana Space Center,
• Vega light launcher, which will be operated at the Guiana Space Center starting 2012.

 The technical performance of its launch vehicles and a substantial order book have made Arianespace the world leader in satellite launch services for the last few years (as of 2012), with a market share exceeding 50%.