Small Launch After the Shake-Out
Is there a viable business in launching small satellites on dedicated small rockets, and who has survived?
Chapter summary
One company.
Key takeaways
- 1
Rocket Lab's Electron flew 18 times in 2025 and 15 times in 2026 to mid-October, at a price of about $8.4–8.5 million per launch, and is the only Western small launcher with a sustained cadence.
- 2
Most of the dozens of small-launch start-ups of 2015–2021 failed, merged or moved up to medium lift.
- 3
Dedicated small launch survives because some customers will pay ten times the rideshare price per kilogram for their own orbit and schedule; it is a niche, not a mass market.
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