Swiss firm aims for low-cost service 14 March 2013

Swiss Space Systems said it had already secured technological cooperation deals with key players in the sector including the , Dassault Aviation, the Von Karman Institute and Sonaca.

Suborbital planes used to launch the would themselves be ferried to an altitude of 10,000 metres (32,800 feet) by a special Airbus A300 jet that is already certified for zero-gravity flights.

The would then climb to 80,000 metres (262,500 feet) to place the satellite in orbit, before gliding back to an earth-based "".

The company said it planned to open such a Swiss cosmonaut Claude Nicollier on June 15, 2007, in spaceport by 2015 at the Payerne airfield in Paris. A new Swiss-based company said Thursday it western , which has already been used would offer low-cost satellite launches which it claims by the Solar Pulse sun-powered aircraft of Swiss could be a quarter of current market rates. astronaut Bertrand Piccard.

Swiss Space Systems said that the plan's low-cost A new Swiss-based company said Thursday it character was rooted in the reusable nature of the would offer low-cost satellite launches which it and other launch facilities and that fuel- claims could be a quarter of current market rates. consumption would be far less than that of conventional systems. Swiss Space Systems-S3 said its goal was to offer launches for 10 million Swiss francs (8.1 million Countries including Malaysia and Morocco have euros, $10.5 million) using unmanned suborbital already expressed an interest in partnership deals spaceplanes that could carry satellites weighing up that could see them host additional , it to 250 kilos (550 pounds). said.

"Our mission is to give access to space," the (c) 2013 AFP company said in a statement.

"Our aim is to democratise access to space by enabling emerging markets, countries, universities and research institutes to do what has not been possible for them up to know: deploy their own satellites," it added.

The company, which is led by Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier, said it had a budget of 225 million Swiss francs and aimed to begin test launches in 2017.

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APA citation: Swiss firm aims for low-cost satellite service (2013, March 14) retrieved 1 October 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2013-03-swiss-firm-aims-low-cost-satellite.html

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