Article Posted on : - Sep 10, 2010

The Falcon 1 launch vehicle. A SpaceX photo

HAWTHORNE (BNS): American aerospace company SpaceX has joined hands with European major EADS Astrium to market the Falcon 1 space launch vehicles to European customers.

Both the companies have signed a commercial agreement to provide dedicated launch services to the European institutional small satellite market.

The potential customers will be various space agencies and other institutional customers in Europe eyeing to conduct launches through 2015.

“With dedicated launch services, customers with very small payloads can launch independently to low-Earth orbit, giving them greater control over launch and launch schedule. With the Falcon 1, these services can be provided at the world’s lowest cost per flight when compared to any other launch service provider,” SpaceX, the designer and developer the Falcon 1 spacecraft, said.

Falcon 1 is a two-stage, liquid oxygen and rocket grade kerosene (RP-1) powered launch vehicle. It has been designed to launch and place payloads of up to 27,670 kg in low Earth orbit.