SpinLaunch, founded in 2014, is a spaceflight technology development company pioneering a kinetic energy launch system. Rather than using traditional chemical rockets, SpinLaunch is developing a mass accelerator technology with the aim of significantly lowering the cost and increasing the frequency of launching small satellites into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The company is building a ground-based, electric-powered centrifuge accelerator to propel payloads into orbit and has partnered with organizations like NASA, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, Sumitomo Corporation, and The Aleut Corporation. SpinLaunch is also developing its own satellite constellation called Meridian Space.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
SpinLaunch plans to complete the build of its suborbital centrifugal launch system at Spaceport America as part of its next phase of development.
Objects launched from SpinLaunch’s centrifuge are intended to reach an altitude of about 100 km before landing at White Sands Missile Range.
SpinLaunch is building an evacuated centrifuge 30 m in diameter that can accelerate objects to Mach 5 before launching them.
SpinLaunch is expanding operations at Spaceport America in New Mexico and plans to hire 59 additional people at the site.
SpinLaunch has raised $80,000,000 to date, including a $35,000,000 funding round a year ago.
SpinLaunch expects to perform the first suborbital tests of a prototype of its centrifugal system for launching small satellites later 2021 from New Mexico.
A SpinLaunch job opening for the New Mexico site notes that a crew of about 30 to 45 people works there and that employees are provided housing, meals, and other amenities.
SpinLaunch expects to spend $46,000,000 on construction and expansion activities at Spaceport America over the next 10 years.
SpinLaunch is developing a test site at Spaceport America.
SpinLaunch raised $35,000,000 in a new funding round disclosed 2020-01-16.
At the time of the 2019 OTA award, SpinLaunch expected to be able to launch five times per day for $250,000 per launch and did not disclose payload sizes.
In June 2019 SpinLaunch received an other transaction authority (OTA) award from the Defense Innovation Unit to examine using SpinLaunch's services for responsive satellite launch.
SpinLaunch is developing a test facility at Spaceport America in New Mexico expected to cost $7,000,000 to develop.
With the new funding round, SpinLaunch has raised a total of $80,000,000.
SpinLaunch previously announced a $40,000,000 funding round in June 2018.
Jonathan Yaney set a goal to complete SpinLaunch's first flight test mass accelerator at Spaceport America later 2020.
Part of SpinLaunch's new funding round will go toward completing the Spaceport America test facility 2020.
SpinLaunch received an other transaction authority cost-sharing contract from the Defense Innovation Unit on 2019-06-19.
SpinLaunch intends to offer launches at a rate of five times per day at a price of $250,000 per launch.
SpinLaunch is building a test site at Spaceport America in New Mexico but has not selected a permanent launch site and excludes Florida due to air traffic restrictions.