{"id":37899,"date":"2020-12-03T20:29:27","date_gmt":"2020-12-03T20:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:36:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:36:39","slug":"this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/","title":{"rendered":"This company wants to launch satellites into space via drone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Could drones hold the answer to putting satellites on orbit faster? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Space logistics company Aevum is betting on it with its new Ravn X drone, which it built in the hopes of launching rockets into orbit every three hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAevum is completely reimagining access to space,\u201d said Jay Skylus, Aevum\u2019s founder and chief executive, said in a statement unveiling the new launch solution Dec. 3<\/a>. \u201cU.S. leadership has identified the critical need for extremely fast access to low Earth orbit. We\u2019re faster than anybody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThrough our autonomous technologies, Aevum will shorten the lead time of launches from years to months, and when our customers demand it, minutes,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded in 2016, the company has been developing its product in stealth mode for years. On Dec. 3, they officially unveiled the new Ravn X autonomous launch solution \u2015 an 80-foot long drone designed to launch small payloads into low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company has yet to conduct its first test flight but is working toward airworthiness certification. Leaders hope to launch a payload for the military before the end of 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a small launch vehicle that\u2019s more or less designed from scratch to be reusable and for responsive space access,\u201d Skylus told C4ISRNET in an interview. \u201cWe do this by operating this sort of three stage launch vehicle stack. The first stage is an unmanned aircraft that is completely autonomous. The second and third stages are rocket systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following take off, the drone rises to between 30,000 and 60,000 feet, where the rocket separates and ignites, launching the payload into orbit. Ravn X can take off and land horizontally on any airstrip at least one mile long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe entire system is designed for a turnaround time and response time of about 180 minutes,\u201d Skylus explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea of launching satellites into space from the air isn\u2019t a new concept. For example, Northrop Grumman\u2019s Pegasus rocket \u2015 designed to be launched into orbit from a carrier aircraft \u2015 has been used for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Air Force and NASA missions since the 1990s, with the most recent mission taking place in October 2019. A more recent entrant into the air-launch-to-orbit arena is Virgin Orbit\u2019s LauncherOne rocket<\/a>. The company\u2019s first test flight, which failed to reach orbit, was conducted in May 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aevum thinks of itself as taking the concept one step further by adding autonomy to the launch process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis entire process is more or less fully autonomous, and this allows us to basically reduce the cost of labor that\u2019s required by about 90 percent,\u201d said Skylus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aevum\u2019s approach also gets at one of the most frustrating issues with launch: weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency announced the DARPA Launch Challenge<\/a>, where small launch companies were asked to show that they could put a payload into space within just 30 days. While about 50 companies applied, by 2019 their were only three companies remaining in the competition. By 2020, there was just one: Astra Space. The company came close to achieving its goal, ultimately failing after inclement weather forced them to scrub multiple launch attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ravn X is largely impervious to those issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause of the architecture, we\u2019re really not dependent on weather and those types of things. We expect to be available more than 96 percent of the year,\u201d said Skylus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company is already drawing attention from the Department of Defense. Ravn X\u2019s first mission will be the ASLON-45 mission for the U.S. Space Force, a $5 million contract. With that mission, the focus is on showing how the company can get a payload into orbit in 24 hours or less, said Skylus. That launch is expected to be complete before the end of 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, the company has received a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research award, a classified contract, and is one of eight company\u2019s to receive a $986 million indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for Orbital Services Program-4<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to see the bold innovation and responsiveness in development today by our small launch industry partners to support emerging war fighter needs\u201d said Lt. Col. Ryan Rose, Chief of the Space and Missile Systems Center\u2019s Small Launch and Targets Division, in a statement coordinated with Aevum\u2019s announcement. \u201cThe U.S. Space Force is proactively partnering with industry to support U.S. space superiority objectives. Having a robust U.S. industry providing responsive launch capability is key to ensuring the U.S. Space Force can respond to future threats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon has been pushing industry for responsive launch solutions, ensuring that they can place payloads into orbit with little notice. Aevum\u2019s focus on software and automation gives them an edge in meeting those elusive responsive launch requirements, Skylus said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe responsive space launch type of problem has been a problem for several decades now, and the government has been seeking a solution to this. While others, our peers, are trying to tackle this from a technology\/engineering perspective, Aevum is really tackling the problem from a system level perspective,\u201d said Skylus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s meant taking proven hardware solutions and applying autonomous software solutions to the ground processes and mission assurance elements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you look at our financials and things like that, we really do look more like a software company as opposed to a launch company,\u201d said Skylus. \u201cWhich is great, because that means we\u2019re profitable right out of the gate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Aevum, the focus is on being that dependable, responsive launch service, and that may come at a premium for prospective customers, including the Pentagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not looking to be the lowest cost provider. That was never something that we claimed to be,\u201d said Skylus. \u201cOur focus has been: How do we make sure that we can go when our customers need to go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur niche market is going to be composed of customers like the Department of Defense who can\u2019t afford to wait a week to gather intel \u2026 Or a customer like a commercial constellation customer who if they\u2019re down for over a week, they\u2019re going to lose more in revenue than they would be willing to pay for a launch,\u201d he continued. \u201cThose are the customers that we\u2019re really targeting.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The reusable drone will be able to launch small payloads into low Earth orbit with a 180 minute turnaround time, potentially providing a much-desired responsive launch solution for the Department of Defense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":75735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":23,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,163,36,23,27],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3385],"class_list":["post-37899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-military-space-report","category-newsletters","category-space","category-unmanned"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"AT7H3I7T3FF2TLM6G5X3P3WDNQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/battlefield-tech\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\nThis company wants to launch satellites into space via drone - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The reusable drone will be able to launch small payloads into low Earth orbit with a 180 minute turnaround time, potentially providing a much-desired responsive launch solution for the Department of Defense.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This company wants to launch satellites into space via drone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The reusable drone will be able to launch small payloads into low Earth orbit with a 180 minute turnaround time, potentially providing a much-desired responsive launch solution for the Department of Defense.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-03T20:29:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T18:36:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nathan Strout\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nathan Strout\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t \"@graph\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/space\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/03\\\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\\\/#article\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/space\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/03\\\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"author\": {\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t },\n\t \"headline\": \"This company wants to launch satellites into space via drone\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2020-12-03T20:29:27+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T18:36:39+00:00\",\n\t \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/space\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/03\\\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"wordCount\": 1047,\n\t \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/space\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/03\\\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/1.jpg_a70e9a.jpg\",\n\t \"articleSection\": [\n\t \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t \"Military Space Report\",\n\t \"Newsletters\",\n\t \"Space\",\n\t \"Unmanned\"\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/space\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/03\\\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\\\/#respond\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/space\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/03\\\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/space\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/03\\\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"This company wants to launch satellites into space via drone - Defense News\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t },\n\t \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/space\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/03\\\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/space\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/03\\\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/1.jpg_a70e9a.jpg\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2020-12-03T20:29:27+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T18:36:39+00:00\",\n\t \"description\": \"The reusable drone will be able to launch small payloads into low Earth orbit with a 180 minute turnaround time, potentially providing a much-desired responsive launch solution for the Department of Defense.\",\n\t \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/space\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/03\\\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t },\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/space\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/03\\\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\\\/\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/space\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/03\\\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/1.jpg_a70e9a.jpg\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/1.jpg_a70e9a.jpg\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/space\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/03\\\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t \"itemListElement\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 1,\n\t \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 2,\n\t \"name\": \"Space\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/space\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"space\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 3,\n\t \"name\": \"This company wants to launch satellites into space via drone\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t \"target\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t },\n\t \"query-input\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t }\n\t }\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t \"logo\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t },\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"This company wants to launch satellites into space via drone - Defense News","description":"The reusable drone will be able to launch small payloads into low Earth orbit with a 180 minute turnaround time, potentially providing a much-desired responsive launch solution for the Department of Defense.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"This company wants to launch satellites into space via drone","og_description":"The reusable drone will be able to launch small payloads into low Earth orbit with a 180 minute turnaround time, potentially providing a much-desired responsive launch solution for the Department of Defense.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2020-12-03T20:29:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T18:36:39+00:00","author":"Nathan Strout","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nathan Strout","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"This company wants to launch satellites into space via drone","datePublished":"2020-12-03T20:29:27+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T18:36:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/"},"wordCount":1047,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1.jpg_a70e9a.jpg","articleSection":["Daily News Roundup","Military Space Report","Newsletters","Space","Unmanned"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/","name":"This company wants to launch satellites into space via drone - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1.jpg_a70e9a.jpg","datePublished":"2020-12-03T20:29:27+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T18:36:39+00:00","description":"The reusable drone will be able to launch small payloads into low Earth orbit with a 180 minute turnaround time, potentially providing a much-desired responsive launch solution for the Department of Defense.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1.jpg_a70e9a.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1.jpg_a70e9a.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2020\/12\/03\/this-company-wants-to-launch-satellites-into-space-via-drone\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Space","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/","ad_zone":"space"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"This company wants to launch satellites into space via drone"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1.jpg_a70e9a.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37899"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37903,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37899\/revisions\/37903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37899"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=37899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}