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79-927: ILS was formed in 1995 as a private spaceflight partnership between Lockheed Martin (LM), Khrunichev and Energia . ILS initially co-marketed non-military launches on both the American Atlas and the Russian Proton expendable launch vehicles . With the Atlas V launch of the SES Astra 1KR satellite on 20 April 2006, ILS had made 100 launches, 97 of which were successful. In September 2006, Lockheed-Martin announced its intention to sell its ownership interests in Lockheed Khrunichev Energia International, Inc. (LKEI) and International Launch Services, Inc. (ILS) to Space Transport Inc. Space Transport Inc.

158-406: A backlog of 22 orders, totaling approximately US$ 2 billion, and had flown 45 commercial Proton missions since 1996. By June 2009, the backlog had grown to 24 firm missions. The 50th ILS Proton launch took place in early 2009. In January 2014, ILS had an order book of 14 launches worth more than US$ 1 billion, with up to 6 launches planned for 2014. Most Proton payloads are too massive to launch with

237-536: A collaborative effort between private companies and government agencies. The role of Arianespace is to market Ariane 6 launch services, prepare missions, and manage customer relations. At the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in French Guiana , the company oversees the team responsible for integrating and preparing launch vehicles. The rockets themselves are designed and manufactured by other companies: ArianeGroup for

316-429: A commercial entity. The history of full private space transportation includes early efforts by German company OTRAG in the 20th century. Founded in 1975 as the first private company to attempt to launch a private spacecraft, testing of its OTRAG rocket began in 1977. The history also covers numerous modern orbital and suborbital launch systems in the 21st century. More recent commercial spaceflight projects include

395-500: A component of US space law for over 25 years, and during this time, "has never been invoked in any commercial launch mishap". In 1992, a Resurs-500 capsule containing gifts was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in a private spaceflight called Europe-America 500 . The flight was conceived by the Russian Foundation for Social Inventions and TsSKB-Progress , a Russian rocket-building company, to increase trade between Russia and

474-546: A few hundred dollars per kilogram as the technology of a second private spaceflight startup of ~2000 comes into service. The first privately funded rocket to reach the boundary of space, the Kármán line , (although not orbit) was Conestoga I , which was launched by Space Services Inc. on a suborbital flight to 309 kilometres (192 mi) altitude on 9 September 1982. In October 1995, their first (and only) attempt at an orbital launch, Conestoga 1620, failed to achieve orbit due to

553-486: A guidance system failure. On April 5, 1990, Orbital Sciences Corporation 's Pegasus , an air launched rocket, was the first launch vehicle fully developed by a private company to reach orbit. In the early 2000s, several public-private corporate partnerships were established in the United States to privately develop spaceflight technology. Several purely private initiatives have shown interest in private endeavors to

632-594: A launch system tailored for missions to polar and Sun-synchronous orbits. During 2002, the ESA announced the Arianespace Soyuz programme in cooperation with Russia ; a launch site for Soyuz was constructed as the Guiana Space Centre , while the Soyuz launch vehicle was modified for use at the site. On 4 February 2005, both funding and final approval for the initiative were granted. Arianespace had offered launch services on

711-449: A major customer of Arianespace, stated that: "Each year that passes will see SpaceX advance, gain market share and further reduce its costs through economies of scale ." By September 2014, Arianespace had reportedly to sign four additional contracts for lower slots on an Ariane 5 SYLDA dispenser for satellites that otherwise could be flown on a SpaceX launch vehicle; this was claimed to have been allowed via cost reductions; it had signed

790-465: A mission between NASA , SpaceX , and Intuitive Machines . This event marked the first successful landing of a privately owned spacecraft on the Moon and the United States' first lunar landing in over 50 years and the first lander to do so with cryogenic propellants . Today many commercial space transportation companies offer launch services to satellite companies and government space organizations around

869-564: A new clause to NASA's mission statement : Yet one of NASA's early actions was to effectively prevent private space flight through a large amount of regulation. From the beginning, though, this met significant opposition not only by the private sector, but in Congress. In 1962, Congress passed its first law pushing back the prohibition on private involvement in space, the Communications Satellite Act of 1962 . While largely focusing on

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948-409: A new occupation. In the 2000s, entrepreneurs began designing—and by the 2010s, deploying—space systems competitive to the governmental systems of the early decades of the space age. These new offerings have brought about significant market competition in space launch services after 2010 that had not been present previously, principally through the reduction of the cost of space launch and

1027-459: A one-year contract with the ESA to study and prepare for a mission to the Moon to mine regolith . In 2020, Arianespace suspended operations for nearly two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Operations were suspended on 18 March and are, as of 29 April, expected to resume on 11 May. The return to operations will observe a number of new health and safety guidelines including social distancing in

1106-555: A private company had begun transporting cargo to and from the International Space Station , while a second private company was scheduled to begin making deliveries in 2013, ushering in a time of regular private space cargo delivery to and return from the government-owned space facility in low Earth orbit (LEO). In this new paradigm for LEO cargo transport, the government contracts for and pays for cargo services on substantially privately developed space vehicles rather than

1185-704: A private flight to the Moon, from the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation. On 30 May 2020, Crew Dragon Demo-2 operated by SpaceX became the first crewed mission to the International Space Station in the Commercial Crew Program . After 2015, European-based private small-lift launch vehicle development got underway, particularly in Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom, but "France has largely been left out of this new commercial launch industry". In 2021,

1264-438: A spate of Proton/Breeze M launch failures. In the last few years, most launch contracts for large commercial geostationary satellites — which have declined overall as more operators look at smaller spacecraft sizes — have gone to SpaceX and Arianespace . Proton flew its last scheduled commercial mission on 9 October 2019, delivering Eutelsat 5 West B and MEV-1 to geostationary orbit. After October 2006, ILS focused solely on

1343-473: A total of 11 contracts by that point, while two additional ones that were under advanced negotiations. At the time, Arianespace has a backlog of launches worth €4.5 billion with 38 satellites to be launched on Ariane 5 , 7 on Soyuz and 9 on Vega , claiming 60% of the global satellite launch market. However, since 2017, Arianespace's market share has been passed by SpaceX in commercial launches. Currently, Arianespace operates three launch vehicles: Since

1422-668: Is flaring back into life, and it's not massive institutions such as NASA that are in the running. The old view that human space flight is so complex, difficult and expensive that only huge government agencies could hope to accomplish it is being disproved by a new breed of flamboyant space privateers, who are planning to send humans out beyond the Earth's orbit for the first time since 1972," particularly noting projects underway by Mars One , Inspiration Mars Foundation , Bigelow Aerospace and SpaceX . The Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984 required encouragement of commercial space ventures, adding

1501-630: Is marketed via Starsem . The Sea Launch project flew the Ukrainian Zenit rocket . In 2003, Arianespace joined with Boeing Launch Services and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to create the Launch Services Alliance . In 2005, continued weak commercial demand for EELV launches drove Lockheed Martin and Boeing to propose a joint venture called the United Launch Alliance to service the United States government launch market. Since

1580-520: Is tasked with developing and manufacturing the Ariane 6 carrier rocket. Industrial groups Airbus and Safran pooled their shares along with the French government's CNES stake to form a partnership company holding just under 74% of Arianespace shares, while the remaining 26% is spread across suppliers in nine countries including further Airbus subsidiaries. By 2004, Arianespace reportedly held more than 50% of

1659-556: The Commercial Space Launch Act . This enabled an American industry of private operators of expendable launch systems . Prior to the signing of this law, all commercial satellite launches in the United States were restricted by Federal regulation to NASA's Space Shuttle . On 11 February 1988, the Presidential Directive declared that the government should purchase commercially available space goods and services to

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1738-706: The Delta IV and Atlas V EELVs remain in active service. Commercial launches outnumbered government launches at the Eastern Range in 1997. The Commercial Space Act was passed in 1998 and implements many of the provisions of the Launch Services Purchase Act of 1990 . Nonetheless, until 2004 NASA kept private space flight effectively illegal. But that year, the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004 required that NASA and

1817-501: The Federal Aviation Administration legalise private space flight. The 2004 Act also specified a "learning period" which restricted the ability of the FAA to enact regulations regarding the safety of people who might actually fly on commercial spacecraft through 2012, ostensibly because spaceflight participants would share the risk of flight through informed consent procedures of human spaceflight risks, while requiring

1896-453: The Government of France announced a plan to fund the "France-based rocket firm ArianeGroup to develop a new small-lift rocket called Maïa by the year 2026," which would be a government-funded but commercially developed rocket. On 22 February 2024, Intuitive Machine's private Odysseus successfully landed on the Moon after taking off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 liftoff on 15 February 2024 in

1975-516: The H10+ , was adopted for the Ariane 4, which raised the rocket's overall payload capacity by 110 kg and increased its burn time by 20 seconds. Even prior to the first flight of the Ariane 4 in 1988, development of a successor, designated as the Ariane 5 , had already commenced. In January 1985, the Ariane 5 was officially adopted as an ESA programme, and began an eleven-year development and test program to

2054-719: The Korea Aerospace Research Institute , but the satellite is now planned to be launched by the Vega-C launch vehicle. Private spaceflight Private spaceflight refers to spaceflight developments that are not conducted by a government agency , such as NASA or ESA . During the early decades of the Space Age , the government space agencies of the Soviet Union and United States pioneered space technology in collaboration with affiliated design bureaus in

2133-451: The U.S. civilian space program and Soviet space program were operated using mainly military pilots as astronauts . During this period, no commercial space launches were available to private operators, and no private organization was able to offer space launches. Eventually, private organizations were able to both offer and purchase space launches, thus beginning the period of private spaceflight. The first phase of private space operation

2212-537: The inner Solar System . In 2006, NASA initiated a program to purchase commercial space transport to carry cargo to the International Space Station , while funding a portion of the development of new technology in a public-private partnership . In May 2015, the Japanese legislature considered legislation to allow private company spaceflight initiatives in Japan. In 2016, the United States granted its first clearance for

2291-513: The prime contractor and held responsibility for performing the integration of all sections of the vehicle, while French engine manufacturer Société Européenne de Propulsion (SEP) provided the first, second and third stage engines (the third stage engines were produced in partnership with German aerospace manufacturer MBB ). Other major companies involved included the French firms Air Liquide and Matra , Swedish manufacturer Volvo , and German aircraft producer Dornier Flugzeugwerke . Development of

2370-413: The 1980s, various private initiatives have started up to pursue the private use of space . Traditional costs to launch anything to space have been high—on the order of tens of thousands of US dollars per kilogram—but by 2020, costs on the order of a few thousand dollars per kilogram are being seen from one private launch provider that was an early 2000s startup, with the cost projected to fall to less than

2449-821: The 1990s–2000s. From 2000 through the end of 2015, a total of US$ 13.3 billion of investment finance was invested in the space sector, with US$ 2.9 billion of that being venture capital . In 2015, venture capital firms invested US$ 1.8 billion in private spaceflight companies, more than they had in the previous 15 years combined. As of October 2015 , the largest and most active investors in space were Lux Capital , Bessemer Venture Partners , Khosla Ventures , Founders Fund , RRE Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson . Increasing interest by investors in economically driven spaceflight had begun to appear by 2016, and some space ventures had to turn away investor funding. CBInsights in August 2016 published that funding to space startups

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2528-595: The Ariane 6 and Avio for the Vega. The launch infrastructure at the CSG is owned by the European Space Agency , while the land itself belongs to and is managed by CNES , the French national space agency. As of May 2021 , Arianespace had launched more than 850 satellites in 287 missions spanning 41 years. The company's first commercial launch was Spacenet 1 , which took place on 23 May 1984. In addition to its facilities at

2607-423: The Ariane launcher quickly mounted up; by early 1984, a total of 27 satellites had been booked to use Ariane, which was estimated to be half of the world's market at that time. As a result of the commercial success, after the tenth Ariane mission was flown, the ESA formally transferred responsibility for Ariane over to Arianespace. By early 1986, the Ariane 1, along with its Ariane 2 and Ariane 3 derivates, were

2686-439: The CSG, the company's main offices are in Évry-Courcouronnes , a suburb of Paris . The formation of Arianespace SA is closely associated with the desire of several European nations to pursue joint collaboration in the field of space exploration and the formation of a pan-national organisation, the European Space Agency (ESA), to oversee such undertaking during 1973. Prior to the ESA's formation, France had been lobbying for

2765-479: The ESA and CNES; Italy provided 65 per cent of funding while six additional nations contributed the remainder. In May 2004, it was reported that a contract was signed between commercial operator Arianespace and prime contractor ELV to perform vehicle integration at Kourou , French Guiana . On 13 February 2012, the first launch of the Vega took place; it was reported as being an "apparently perfect flight". Since entering commercial service, Arianespace markets Vega as

2844-581: The International Space Station to commercial space ventures. Arianespace Arianespace SA is a French company founded in March 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider . It operates two launch vehicles : Vega C , a small-lift rocket , and Ariane 6 , a medium -to- heavy-lift rocket. Arianespace is a subsidiary of ArianeGroup , a joint venture between Airbus and Safran . European space launches are carried out as

2923-402: The Moon . Two private orbital habitat prototypes are already in Earth orbit, with larger versions to follow. Planned private spaceflights beyond Earth orbit include solar sailing prototypes ( LightSail-3 ). During the principal period of spaceflight in the mid-twentieth century, only nation states developed and flew spacecraft above the Kármán line , the nominal boundary of space. Both

3002-704: The Proton launch vehicle, so no longer offered Atlas launches. The first Atlas launch was the Atlas IIAS Intelsat 704 launch on 10 January 1995 and the last was the Atlas V Astra 1KR launch on 20 April 2006. ILS began marketing the Angara rocket to commercial customers in July 2015. The company's first commercial Angara mission is expected to launch in no earlier than 2023 carrying Kompsat 6, an Earth observation satellite operated by

3081-464: The Proton launch vehicles to commercial clients. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. All Atlas V launches are now managed by United Launch Alliance , a joint-venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing ( IDS/Defense, Space & Security/Launch Services ) formed in December 2006, with all commercial Atlas V launches sub-contracted for ULA by LMCLS. In October 2006, Krunichev spokesman said that

3160-491: The Reagan administration issued National Security Decision Directive Number 94 encouraging the commercialization of expendable launch vehicles (ELVs), which directed that, "The U.S. Government will license, supervise, and/or regulate U.S. commercial ELV operations only to the extent required to meet its national and international obligations and to ensure public safety." On 30 October 1984, US President Ronald Reagan signed into law

3239-492: The USSR and private companies in the US. They entirely funded both the development of new spaceflight technologies and the operational costs of spaceflight . Following a similar model of space technology development, the European Space Agency was formed in 1975. Arianespace , born out of ESA's independent spaceflight efforts, became the world's first commercial launch service provider in

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3318-504: The United States, and to promote the use of technology once reserved only for military forces. Money for the launch was raised from a collection of Russian companies. The capsule parachuted into the Pacific Ocean and was brought to Seattle by a Russian missile-tracking ship. Since 1995 Khrunichev's Proton rocket has been marketed through International Launch Services , while the Soyuz rocket

3397-535: The availability of more space launch capacity . Private spaceflight accomplishments to date include flying suborbital spaceplanes ( SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo ), launching orbital rockets , flying two orbital expandable test modules ( Genesis I and II ). On the opposite, launching astronauts to the International Space Station and certain satellite launches are performed on behalf of and financed by government agencies. Planned private spaceflights beyond Earth orbit include personal spaceflights around

3476-432: The commercial exploration and exploitation of 'space resources' [including... water and minerals]". The right does not extend to biological life , so anything that is alive may not be exploited commercially. The Act further asserts that "the United States does not [(by this Act)] assert sovereignty , or sovereign or exclusive rights or jurisdiction over, or the ownership of, any celestial body ". The SPACE Act includes

3555-584: The comparatively limited pool of the 1990s. For example, as of June 2013 and in the United States alone, ten billionaires had made "serious investments in private spaceflight activities" at six companies, including Stratolaunch Systems , Planetary Resources , Blue Origin , Virgin Galactic , SpaceX , and Bigelow Aerospace . The ten investors were Paul Allen , Larry Page , Eric Schmidt , Ram Shriram , Charles Simonyi , Ross Perot Jr. , Jeff Bezos , Richard Branson , Elon Musk , and Robert Bigelow . At

3634-417: The course of its activities. In 1996, the United States government selected Lockheed Martin and Boeing to each develop Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV) to compete for launch contracts and provide assured access to space. The government's acquisition strategy relied on the strong commercial viability of both vehicles to lower unit costs. This anticipated market demand did not materialise, but both

3713-514: The development of a new European expendable launch system to serve as a replacement for the Europa rocket. Accordingly, one of the first programmes launched by the ESA was the Ariane heavy launcher. The express purpose of this launcher was to facilitate the delivery of commercial satellites into geosynchronous orbit . France was the largest stakeholder in the Ariane development programme. French aerospace manufacturer Aérospatiale served as

3792-467: The dominant launcher on the world market. The Ariane 2 and Ariane 3 were short-lived platforms while the more extensive Ariane 4 was being developed; it was a considerably larger and more flexible launcher that the earlier members of its family, having been intended from the onset to compete with the upper end of launchers worldwide. In comparison, while the Ariane 1 had a typical weight of 207 tonnes and could launch payloads of up to 1.7 tonnes into orbit;

3871-439: The early 1980s. Subsequently, large defense contractors began to develop and operate space launch systems , which were derived from government rockets. Private spaceflight in Earth orbit includes communications satellites , satellite television , satellite radio , astronaut transport and sub-orbital and orbital space tourism . In the United States, the FAA has created a new certification called Commercial Astronaut ,

3950-446: The early 2020s some of these investments have paid off, with Musk's SpaceX coming to dominate the launch market in mass to orbit and with a $ 100 billion valuation. Other companies such as Bigelow Aerospace though have collapsed and left the market. Some aerospace startups, such as Rocket Lab , have gone public via special-purpose acquisition company , but their SPAC values have been affected by market volatility. Some investors see

4029-511: The end of 2025. Arianespace "is the marketing and sales organization for the European space industry and various component suppliers." The primary shareholders of Arianespace are its suppliers , in various European nations. Arianespace had 24 shareholders in 2008, 21 in 2014, and just 17 as of October 2018 . In 2015, Arianespace shareholding was restructured due to the creation of Airbus Safran Launchers (later renamed ArianeGroup), which

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4108-470: The extension of indemnification of US launch providers for extraordinary catastrophic third-party losses of a failed launch through 2025, while the previous indemnification law was scheduled to expire in 2016. The Act also extends, through 2025, the "learning period" restrictions which limit the ability of the FAA to enact regulations regarding the safety of spaceflight participants . Indemnification for extraordinary third-party losses has, as of 2015, been

4187-596: The firm was ready to buy the stake being sold by Lockheed Martin . Russian space agency spokesman said that despite that Lockheed is selling its stake to Space Transport, Khrunichev may eventually end up owning it. He expressed the desire of the Russian side to increase its presence in the joint venture. Space Transport Inc, registered in the British Virgin Islands and headquartered in Moscow , denied that it would be selling

4266-418: The first launch in 1996. It lacked the high levels of commonality that the Ariane 4 had with its predecessors, and had been designed not only for launching heavier payloads of up to 5.2 tonnes and at a 20 per cent cost reduction over the Ariane 4, but for a higher margin of safety due to the fact that the Ariane 5 was designed to conduct crewed space launches as well, being intended to transport astronauts using

4345-534: The fullest extent feasible and shall not conduct activities with potential commercial applications that preclude or deter Commercial Sector space activities except for national security or public safety reasons. On 5 November 1990, United States President George H. W. Bush signed into law the Launch Services Purchase Act . The Act, in a complete reversal of the earlier Space Shuttle monopoly, ordered NASA to purchase launch services for its primary payloads from commercial providers whenever such services are required in

4424-535: The future, in order to bring "pricing squarely in line with our customer's needs..." and to jointly work on solutions that facilitate "...better products, more services [...] and a capability to implement a broader and more flexible set of strategic launch agreements...". ILS' ownership structure remains unchanged and it continues to act independently as an American corporation. Any future change contemplated to change ILS' ownership structure, in place since 2008, would be subject to regulatory approvals. In May 2008, ILS had

4503-710: The government operating each of the cargo vehicles and cargo delivery systems. As of 2013 , there is a mix of private and government resupply vehicles being used for the ISS, as the Russian Soyuz and Progress vehicles, and the European Space Agency (ESA) ATV (through 2014) and the Japanese Kounotori (through 2021) remain in operation after the 2011 retirement of the US Space Shuttle . In June 2013, British newspaper The Independent claimed that "the space race

4582-460: The larger Ariane 4 had a typical weight of 470 tonnes and could orbit payloads of up to 4.2 tonnes. Despite this, the Ariane 4 was actually 15 per cent smaller than the Ariane 3. On 15 June 1988, the first successful launch of the Ariane 4 was conducted. This maiden flight was considered a success, having placed multiple satellites into orbit. For the V50 launch onwards, an improved third stage, known as

4661-691: The launch provider to be legally liable for potential losses to uninvolved persons and structures. To the end of 2014, commercial passenger flights in space has remained effectively illegal, as the FAA has refused to give a commercial operator's license to any private space company. The United States updated US commercial space legislation with the passage of the Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Act of 2015 (SPACE Act of 2015) in November 2015. The update US law explicitly allows "US citizens to engage in

4740-402: The less powerful Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket, and there were no spare Ariane 5 launch opportunities, so Proton customers cannot easily switch to other launchers. However, as of 2018, the Proton rockets had a very low launch rate with no commercial launches in 2018 and two commercial launches in 2019 due to multiple factors including the emergence of new commercial launch providers like SpaceX and

4819-430: The mid-launch explosion/loss of Challenger came the suspension of the government -operated shuttle flights, allowing the formation of a commercial launch industry. On 4 July 1982, the Reagan administration released National Security Decision Directive Number 42 which officially set its goal to expand United States private-sector investment and involvement in civil space and space-related activities. On 16 May 1983,

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4898-442: The modified Soyuz ST-B to its clients. On 21 October 2011, Arianespace launched the first Soyuz rocket ever from outside former Soviet territory. The payload consisted of two Galileo navigation satellites. Since 2011, Arianespace has ordered a total of 23 Soyuz rockets, enough to cover its needs until 2019 at a pace of three to four launches per year. On 21 January 2019, ArianeGroup and Arianespace announced that it had signed

4977-415: The proposed Hermes space vehicle . Development of the Ariane 5 was not without controversy as some ESA members considered the mature Ariane 4 platform to be more suited for meeting established needs for such launchers; it was reportedly for this reason that Britain chose not to participate in the Ariane 5 programme. For several years, Ariane 4 and Ariane 5 launchers were operated interchangeably; however, it

5056-536: The satellites of its namesake, this was described by both the law's opponents and advocates of private space, as the first step on the road to privatisation. While launch vehicles were originally bought from private contractors, from the beginning of the Shuttle program until the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, NASA attempted to position its shuttle as the sole legal space launch option. But with

5135-539: The stake. In May 2008, Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center , a Russian company, acquired all of Space Transport's interest and is now the majority shareholder in ILS. ILS will remain an American company and headquarters are currently in Reston , Virginia , near Washington, D.C. where approximately 60 employees are based. In April 2019, Glavkosmos and ILS announced that they will be working closer together in

5214-413: The start of the private space era it was not yet clear to what extent these entrepreneurs see "legitimate business opportunity, [for example], space tourism and other commercial activities in space, or [are] wealthy men seeking the exclusivity that space offers innovators and investors." There has been speculation as to whether these investments are a "gamble", and whether they will prove lucrative. As of

5293-745: The suborbital flights of Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin , the orbital flights of SpaceX and other COTS participants. Development of alternatives to government-provided space launch services began in earnest in the 2000s. Private interests began funding limited development programs, but the US government later sponsored a series of programs to incentivize and encourage private companies to begin offering both cargo, and later, crew space transportation services. Lower prices for launch services after 2010, and published prices for standard launch services, have brought about significant space launch market competition that had not been present previously. By 2012,

5372-488: The third stage was a major focus point for the project - prior to Ariane, only the United States had ever flown a launcher that utilised hydrogen-powered upper stages. Immediately following the successful first test launch of an Ariane 1 on 24 December 1979, the French space agency Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) and the ESA created a new company, Arianespace , for the purpose of promoting, marketing, and managing Ariane operations. According to Arianespace, at

5451-436: The time of its establishment, it was the world's first launch services company. Following a further three test launches, the first commercial launch took place on 10 September 1982, which ended in failure as a result of a turbopump having failed in the third stage. The six remaining flights of the Ariane 1 were successful, with the final flight occurring during February 1986. As a result of these repeated successes, orders for

5530-432: The traditional spaceflight industry as ripe for disruption , with "a 100-fold improvement [relatively straightforward and] a thousand-fold improvement [possible]". Between 2005 and 2015, there was US$ 10 billion of private capital invested in the space sector, most of it in the United States. This liberalized private space sector investments beginning in the 1980s, with additional legislative reforms in

5609-481: The workplace. In 2023, Ariane 5 was retired with the introduction of new Ariane 6 , that conducted its maiden flight on 9 July 2024. In August 2024, the ESA agreed to allow Avio —the prime contractor for the ESA-funded Vega —to directly commercialize Vega C and seek non-governmental customers. Arianespace had handled marketing of Vega launches prior to that time. The transition is anticipated to be complete by

5688-447: The world market for boosting satellites to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). During the 2010s, the disruptive force represented by the new sector entrant SpaceX forced Arianespace to cut back on its workforce and focus on cost-cutting to decrease costs to remain competitive against the new low-cost entrant in the launch sector. In the midst of pricing pressure from such companies, during November 2013, Arianespace announced that it

5767-449: The world. In 2005, there were 18 total commercial launches and 37 non-commercial launches. Russia flew 44% of commercial orbital launches, while Europe had 28% and the United States had 6%. China's first private launch, a suborbital flight by OneSpace , took place in May 2018. In recent years, the funding to support private spaceflight has begun to be raised from a larger pool of sources than

5846-520: Was "in a slump", although the number of space investment deals per quarter had gone from 2 or 3 in 2012 to 14 by 2015. In 2017, CB Insights ranked the most active space tech investors, ranked from highest to lowest, were Space Angels Networks, Founders Fund, RRE Ventures, Data Collective, Bessemer, Lux Capital, Alphabet , Tencent Holdings , and Rothenberg Ventures . In June 2019, Miriam Kramer of Axios wrote that private spaceflight companies and investors were poised to capitalize on NASA's plan to open up

5925-576: Was considering requesting additional subsidies from European governments to face competition from SpaceX and unfavorable changes in the Euro-Dollar exchange rate. The company had halved subsidy support by €100m per year since 2002 but the fall in the value of the US Dollar meant Arianespace was losing €60m per year due to currency fluctuations on launch contracts. SpaceX had reportedly begun to take market share from Arianespace, Eutelsat CEO Michel de Rosen ,

6004-426: Was enacting pricing flexibility for the "lighter satellites" that it carries to Geostationary orbits aboard its Ariane 5. According to Arianespace's managing director: "It's quite clear there's a very significant challenge coming from SpaceX (...) therefore things have to change (...) and the whole European industry is being restructured, consolidated, rationalised and streamlined." During early 2014, Arianespace

6083-498: Was eventually decided to terminate all Ariane 4 operations in favour of concentrating on the newer Ariane 5. During the mid-1990s, French firms Aérospatiale and SEP, along with Italian firm Bombrini-Parodi-Delfino (BPD), held discussions on the development of a proposed Ariane Complementary Launcher (ACL). Simultaneously, Italy championed the concept of a new solid-propellant satellite launcher, referred to as Vega . During March 2003, contracts for Vega's development were signed by

6162-696: Was formed specifically for this transaction by Mario Lemme, who has been a consultant to ILS since its inception and a board member for more than three years. The transaction between Lockheed Martin and Space Transport Inc. completed in October 2006. Lockheed Martin has retained all rights related to marketing the commercial Atlas vehicle and is continuing to offer Atlas launch services to the worldwide commercial market through its subsidiary, Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services, Inc. (LMCLS). ILS, no longer affiliated with Lockheed Martin, continued to market

6241-496: Was the launch of the first commercial communications satellites . The U.S. Communications Satellite Act of 1962 allowed commercial consortia owning and operating their own satellites, although these were still deployed on state-owned launch vehicles. In 1980, the European Space Agency created Arianespace , a company to be operated commercially after initial hardware and launch facilities were developed with government funding. Arianespace has since launched numerous satellites as

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