Comments on: South Korean rocket startup Innospace wins launch and marketing contract with German broadcast company

By: Edward

Edward — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 00:07:58 +0000

Oh. Yeah. That was the point started in your second sentence.

By: Dick Eagleson

Dick Eagleson — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 02:55:23 +0000

Edward,

Fair points all. Kourou is a sort of special case. It is physically in South America, but has legal status as a part of France. And I was counting NewSpace, not OldSpace. Kourou may become NewSpace, at least in part, in coming years, but it’s not there yet.

By: Edward

Edward — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 01:39:06 +0000

Dick Eagleson,
You wrote: “But this new trifecta links Europe, Asia and South America in what I suspect is a record for transnational – and transcontinental – space endeavor, though perhaps only the first of many more such.”

It seems that you do not count the Ariane series of rockets as European being launched in South America. American payloads (North America, that is) have gone up in those rockets, which would make this tri-transcontinental.

“Perhaps we will even see quad-national launches in which the payload owner, payload builder, launch service provider and launch site are all in different nations. Extra credit for them being on four different continents too.”

I once built a satellite for an Australian operator, who had contracted with Japan to build the payload, and the Japanese subcontracted to us, in North America, to actually build the satellite and integrate the payload, which was then launched in French Guiana, South America, on a European Ariane 5 vehicle. I count five continents involved in that one.

By: Dick Eagleson

Dick Eagleson — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 22:05:32 +0000

A German company will buy launches of LEO comsats on Korean rockets departing from Brazil. NewSpace is getting muy transnational. Plenty of intra-European bi-national deals anent launch vehicles from one European nation launching from sites in second European nations – or the UK. Even a few deals by American rocket builders to launch from UK or European sites. And, of course, American rockets launch foreign payloads from the US all the time and have done so for decades. But this new trifecta links Europe, Asia and South America in what I suspect is a record for transnational – and transcontinental – space endeavor, though perhaps only the first of many more such. Perhaps we will even see quad-national launches in which the payload owner, payload builder, launch service provider and launch site are all in different nations. Extra credit for them being on four different continents too.