Companies that are reliant on satellites like cellular phone corporations, satellite TV providers, GPS services, etc., all have their own satallites in space.
So what I’m wondering is how did they get them up there?
My first guess is that they would have to work something out with NASA. So did they have to pay NASA a fee to haul their satellite up on one of their missions? Or does NASA have satellites already up there for rent? Or… what?
They can pay Nasa, Russia, China, Japan, The European Space Agency, or private corporations like Orbital Sciences. All will launch your satellite for fee.
I believe that if you pay NASA enough money, they will take your own satellite up. My understanding is that they can simply launch a small rocket with your satellite into orbit. It doesn’t require a full shuttle launch or anything. Most people just take the easy way out and pay the owners of the satellites already in orbit for their use.
Saeren
Eschew Obfuscation.
It takes about $30 million to launch a single satellite into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Because of the relatively small number of launch vehicles currently scheduling satellite deliveries, there is a rather long wait-list and high demand for these launch times. Within the next few years, however, the luanch vehicles that are currently under development will have caught up to the demand, and the number of satellite constellations in orbit will have increased exponentially.
It’s soon to be a crowded, debris strewn LEO, offering a new host of problems. Anyone interested in starting a “Space Janitorial Service” company? Start now!