Spinlaunch sold off by satellite division
The Spinlaunch prototype launcher
The launch startup Spinlaunch, which initially made its name by testing a technology for spinning payloads up to escape velocity (as shown in the prototype test facility to the right), had in the last two years refocused its efforts to building its Meridian satellite constellation.
The company has now split.
“SpinLaunch and Meridian Space are separating into two independent companies,” Meridian Space CEO Massimiliano Ladovaz told Payload. “Meridian will carry forward the satcom infrastructure business…SpinLaunch will continue to build on its vision for a lower-cost approach to launch, with further applications in hypersonics to support the Golden Dome program and in the lunar economy.”
Call me maybe: The split comes just weeks before Meridian’s first in-space demo, which is expected to launch on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare NET Oct. 1.
The Spinlaunch concept I think was never taken very seriously within the space industry, which is why the company began focusing instead on satellites. Meridian raised $30 million in 2025 for its proposed broadband constellation. It now has pushed the spinlaunch part of the company out.
Hat tip reader Nate P.
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The spinlaunch concept seems like something that would be best served by aiming it a different objective first. Can it be made to spin up fast enough, and cycle fast enough, to have air defense capability? If it can send a small satellite to orbit, you’d think it could could send a “rod from god” most of the way there. And then when you’re ready to diversify back to orbital launch, maybe there’s a market for your services on the moon or Mars, where it would be vastly easier, and the lack of a launch plume is an advantage.