Direct-to-Device Satellite

The Launch-Access Layer Is Becoming Its Own Business

A rideshare integrator added a mission to its manifest this week. A hosted sensor rode to orbit on someone else’s spacecraft. A mobile carrier flipped a satellite connectivity service into commercial operation. None of the three announcements were about a rocket, and none of them would make a trade-press roundup on their own merits. But the space industry is unbundling “getting capability into orbit” into distinct, specialized businesses, and the launch-access layer connecting rockets to customers is becoming one of its own. Owning a launch vehicle is no longer the same thing as owning the ability to deploy capability.