Encouraging news for Skyroot
Apparently SpaceX is no longer accepting Transporter and Bandwagon missions (that were pushing down smallsat launch prices) beyond 2028/29. And all planned launches are sold out.
This should be good news for smallsat launchers like Skyroot and SSLV. But "launch on demand", "low-cost" SSLV launches are so few and far between that Spacenews article does not even mention it(!), when apart from Electron, SSLV is the only smallsat launcher with any successful launches. (article does mention Skyroot and PSLV, however)
>At least nine SpaceX partners and customers tell SpaceNews that SpaceX is not accepting Transporter reservations beyond late 2028 or early 2029, and the manifest for the next couple of years is nearly full. Some customers said they expect that SpaceX will extend Falcon 9 rideshares if its super heavy-lift Starship rocket does not come online as quickly as company leaders anticipate.
>For all the uncertainty in the launch market, industry executives agree on one trickle-down effect: The price of launching small satellites is rising. Satellite operators who assume future launch costs will mirror those of SpaceX rideshares face an unpleasant surprise.
>“Our customers are increasingly optimizing for factors other than price, such as orbit control, launch timing certainty, or execution risk,” Robert Sproles, chief executive of the German launch integrator Exolaunch, said by email. “Those factors become more important as constellation operators mature and scale. Therefore, we see a general trend toward accepting higher launch costs in order to support these priorities.”