Launch Service Provider
Encyclopedia
A Launch Service Provider (LSP) is a type of company which specialises in launching spacecraft. It is responsible for the ordering, conversion, or construction of the carrier rocket
, assembly and stacking, payload integration, and ultimately conducting the launch itself. Some of these tasks may be delegated or sub-contracted to other companies, for example United Launch Alliance
subcontracts the production of GEM
solid rocket motors for its Atlas V
, Delta II
and Delta IV rockets to Alliant Techsystems
. With some rockets, the military, defence forces, or another government organisation, of the country in which it is manufactured, may conduct the launch in place of an LSP. The LSP is not necessarily the same company that build the rocket.
Launch vehicle
In spaceflight, a launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket used to carry a payload from the Earth's surface into outer space. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, the launch pad and other infrastructure....
, assembly and stacking, payload integration, and ultimately conducting the launch itself. Some of these tasks may be delegated or sub-contracted to other companies, for example United Launch Alliance
United Launch Alliance
United Launch Alliance 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...
subcontracts the production of GEM
Graphite-Epoxy Motor
A Graphite-Epoxy Motor is a high-performance, solid rocket motor, used for supplemental thrust on several launch vehicles, including the Boeing Delta II and Delta IV. They are designed to allow launch vehicles to deliver larger payloads to orbit...
solid rocket motors for its Atlas V
Atlas V
Atlas V is an active expendable launch system in the Atlas rocket family. Atlas V was formerly operated by Lockheed Martin, and is now operated by the Lockheed Martin-Boeing joint venture United Launch Alliance...
, Delta II
Delta II
Delta II was an American space launch system, originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas. Delta II is part of the Delta rocket family and was in service from 1989 until November 1, 2011...
and Delta IV rockets to Alliant Techsystems
Alliant Techsystems
Alliant Techsystems Inc., most commonly known by its ticker symbol, ', is one of the largest aerospace and defense companies in the United States with more than 18,000 employees in 22 states, Puerto Rico and internationally, and 2010 revenues in excess of an estimated...
. With some rockets, the military, defence forces, or another government organisation, of the country in which it is manufactured, may conduct the launch in place of an LSP. The LSP is not necessarily the same company that build the rocket.
List of active Launch Service Providers
- Earth2Orbit (E2O) http://www.earth2orbit.com/ (PSLV/GSLV)
- Antrix CorporationAntrix CorporationAntrix Corporation Limited is commercial wing of Indian Space Research Organization . The name "Antrix" is an anglicized version of Antariksh, from the Sanskrit word for "space" or "sky".-Products and services:...
(PSLV/GSLV) - ArianespaceArianespaceArianespace SA is a French company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial space transportation company. It undertakes the production, operation, and marketing of the Ariane 5 rocket launcher as part of the Ariane programme....
(Ariane 5Ariane 5Ariane 5 is, as a part of Ariane rocket family, an expendable launch system used to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer orbit or low Earth orbit . Ariane 5 rockets are manufactured under the authority of the European Space Agency and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales...
/Vega) - COSMOS InternationalCOSMOS InternationalCOSMOS International or COSMOS International Satellitenstart GmbH is a joint Russian-German Launch Service Provider and satellite manufacturer...
(Kosmos-3MCosmos-3MThe Kosmos-3M is a Russian space launch vehicle. It is a liquid-fueled two-stage rocket, first launched in 1967 and with over 420 successful launches to its name. The Cosmos 3M uses nitrogen tetroxide as an oxidizer to lift roughly 1400 kg of payload into orbit...
) - Eurockot (RockotRockotThe Rokot , also transliterated as a the pun Rockot, is a Russian space launch vehicle that can launch a payload of 1,950 kilograms into a 200 kilometre high Earth orbit with 63° inclination. It is a derivative of the UR-100N intercontinental ballistic missile , supplied and operated by Eurockot...
) - Great Wall Industrial Corporation (Long MarchLong March rocketA Long March rocket or Chang Zheng rocket as in Chinese pinyin is any rocket in a family of expendable launch systems operated by the People's Republic of China. Development and design falls under the auspices of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology...
) - International Launch ServicesInternational Launch ServicesInternational Launch Services 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.- Ownership :...
(Proton-MProton-MThe Proton-M, GRAU index 8K82M or 8K82KM, is a Russian carrier rocket derived from the Soviet-developed Proton. It is built by Khrunichev, and launched from sites 81 and 200 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Commercial launches are marketed by International Launch Services , and generally...
) - ISC KosmotrasISC KosmotrasThe International Space Company Kosmotras or ISC Kosmotras is a joint project, between Russia, Ukraine, and the Kazakhstan, established in 1997. It developed and now operates a commercial expendable launch system using the Dnepr rocket. The Dnepr is a converted Soviet era SS-18 ICBM decommissioned...
(Dnepr) - Land LaunchLand LaunchLand Launch, a subsidiary of Sea Launch, conducts commercial launches of Zenit rockets from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 45. It operates two-stage Zenit-2SLB and three stage Zenit-3SLB rockets....
(Zenit-2SLB/Zenit-3SLB) - Mitsubishi Heavy IndustriesMitsubishi Heavy Industries, or MHI, is a Japanese company. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi Group.-History:In 1870 Yataro Iwasaki, the founder of Mitsubishi took a lease of Government-owned Nagasaki Shipyard. He named it Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works, and started the shipbuilding business on a full scale...
(H-IIAH-IIAH-IIA is an active expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency . The liquid-fueled H-IIA rockets have been used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit, to launch a lunar orbiting spacecraft, and to launch an interplanetary...
) - Orbital Sciences CorporationOrbital Sciences CorporationOrbital Sciences Corporation is an American company which specializes in the manufacturing and launch of satellites. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems...
(MinotaurMinotaur (rocket)The Minotaur is a family of American solid fuel rockets derived from converted Minuteman and Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles. They are built by Orbital Sciences Corporation....
/Pegasus/Taurus) - Sea LaunchSea LaunchSea Launch is a spacecraft launch service that uses a mobile sea platform for equatorial launches of commercial payloads on specialized Zenit 3SL rockets...
(Zenit-3SLZenit-3SLThe Zenit-3SL is an expendable carrier rocket operated by Sea Launch. First flown in 1999, it has been launched 30 times, with two failures and one partial failure. It is a member of the Zenit family of rockets, and is built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau. RKK Energia produces the Block DM-SL upper...
) - SpaceXSpaceXSpace Exploration Technologies Corporation, or more popularly and informally known as SpaceX, is an American space transport company that operates out of Hawthorne, California...
(Falcon 1Falcon 1The Falcon 1 is a partially reusable launch system designed and manufactured by SpaceX, a space transportation company in Hawthorne, California. The two-stage-to-orbit rocket uses LOX/RP-1 for both stages, the first powered by a single Merlin engine and the second powered by a single Kestrel engine...
/Falcon 9Falcon 9Falcon 9 is a rocket-powered spaceflight launch system designed and manufactured by SpaceX. Both stages of its two-stage-to-orbit vehicle use liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene propellants...
) - StarsemStarsemStarsem is a European-Russian company that was created in 1996 to commercialise the Soyuz launcher. Starsem is headquartered in Évry, France and has the following shareholders:* Russian Federal Space Agency...
(Soyuz-FGSoyuz-FGThe Soyuz-FG launch vehicle is an improved version of the Soyuz-U, from the R-7 family of rockets, designed and constructed by TsSKB-Progress in Samara...
/Soyuz-2) - United Launch AllianceUnited Launch AllianceUnited Launch Alliance 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...
(Atlas VAtlas VAtlas V is an active expendable launch system in the Atlas rocket family. Atlas V was formerly operated by Lockheed Martin, and is now operated by the Lockheed Martin-Boeing joint venture United Launch Alliance...
/Delta IIDelta IIDelta II was an American space launch system, originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas. Delta II is part of the Delta rocket family and was in service from 1989 until November 1, 2011...
/Delta IV) - www.isilaunch.com offers regular auxiliary payload launch opportunities for small spacecraft