LONG BEACH, Calif., 1 April 2014. Shaping the future of space transportation are SpaceX, Arianespace, United Launch Alliance (ULA), and Orbital Sciences, according to Carissa Christensen, managing partner, of the Tauri Group. Christensen moderated the keynote session, “Launch Services Market – Competition, Access & Affordability,” at the Space Tech Conference in Long Beach, Calif.
“The aerospace market is healthy and competitive,” says Arianespace President Clay Mowry during the keynote panel session at the Space Tech Conference. Coming from a satellite conference on the east coast of the U.S. last week, Mowry noted the presence of “a ton of commercial satellite operators.
Electric propulsion is coming on strong, and it is changing the paradigm, Mowry says. For commercial satellite launches, “historically 40 percent of the weight has been fuel. Now with electric propulsion reducing the weight, what do operators do?” Do they add more payloads, put on more electronics and electro-optics, make the satellite bigger, or reduce the size and weight for more affordable launches?
“The market is robust,” concludes Mowry, who noted that Arianespace currently has just less than $6 billion in orders booked. “The future is bright.”
