A recent European Space Agency job posting for a Boost! Launch Service Manager appears to indicate that the agency is preparing to begin offering opportunities for startups to secure launch contracts. The posting also revealed the kind of payloads that would be launched aboard these missions.
The vacancy was posted on 12 April and the first responsibility of the role listed describes the successful candidate being involved in the selection of European launch services through ESA’s Boost! programme.
“Supporting the implementation of the Boost! programme activities pertaining to the selection and co-funding of European launch services for the purpose of demonstrating and qualifying ready-to-fly IOD/IOV satellite.”
Boost! is an ESA initiative that was adopted at the 2019 ministerial meeting that aims to foster new European commercial space transportation services. Funding and, in this case, potential contracts awarded through this programme are, as a result, specifically targeted at launch startups.
The payloads
The second role responsibility listed on the vacancy gives an indication of what payloads ESA will be looking to launch as a part of this new initiative.
“Interacting with the European Commission concerning the implementation of the Boost! activities within the framework of the European Flight Ticket Initiative, a joint initiative of ESA and the European Union”
Like Boost!, the European Flight Ticket Initiative is aimed at stimulating the development of new launch systems through open competition for the procurement of launch services. The launch services will be used to offer regular opportunities for affordable and responsive launch opportunities for EU In-Orbit Demonstration and Validation (IOD/IOV) missions.
IOD/IOV is a European Commission programme that hopes to foster the use of space data for scientific, public, or commercial purposes through innovative technologies and operational concepts. The programme is part of the EU’s CASSINI Facility which was initiated in January 2022 to deploy a €1 billion investment capacity to boost European space companies.
What does it all mean?
There are a lot of elements to this, but the bottom line is that the individual who assumes this new position at the agency will be tasked with awarding some of the first European institutional payloads to fly aboard vehicles developed by European launch startups.
According to the European Flight Ticket Initiative implementation timeline, IOD/IOV payloads will be launched between 2024 and 2027. This should give a wide swath of European launch startups a chance to bid on these contracts.
