How SpinLaunch’s Revolutionary Centrifuge Could Slash Launch Costs And Upend The Space Industry
SpinLaunch has completed a $30 million Series C funding round, led by ATW Partners and Norway’s Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace. The capital lifts the start-up’s total cash haul to $203 million, with the latest tranche showing confidence in its Flash Gordon take on sending satellites into orbit.
The startup is developing a kinetic launch system it says will cut satellite deployment costs by using centrifugal acceleration to hurl objects into space. As part of the long-term goal, it is designing satellites for Meridian Space, a low earth orbit broadband constellation system it hopes is ready for commercial use by 2030. Kongsberg’s NanoAvionics subsidiary is under contract to manufacture 280 satellites when the tech is ready for production.
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“From technical milestones to collaboration with early adopters, the continued backing of insiders and partners like Kongsberg underscores the credibility of our approach and the progress we’ve made,” SpinLaunch CEO Massimilino Ladovaz said in the release. Kogsberg President Eirk Lie added that “we saw a bold vision backed by a uniquely capable team.”
Ladovaz told satellite news site Payload the constellation project will advance launcher development by designing and testing compatible satellites. But the liftoffs this time will be done with traditional rockets that deploy communication arrays into fixed-track orbits. The still-in-development launch system is being designed to catapult smaller payloads in rapid succession.
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In 2020, Long Beach, California-based SpinLaunch started development on small communications satellites compatible with this launcher technology and sturdy enough to withstand high G-forces. The design is based on NASA-inspired multiband reflectarry antennas that are smaller, using a fraction of the power consumed by traditional communications satellite antennas.
Meridian satellites will weigh just 155 pounds if all goes well, well below mini-satellite deployments that typically weigh between 220 and 1,100 pounds. At this size and weight, up to 250 satellites can be launched on a single traditional rocket, or eventually hurled into space on a modern-day centrifuge.
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