French rocket builder MaiaSpace has signed an agreement with Eutelsat to perform multiple launches to support the expansion of the company’s OneWeb satellite constellation.
MaiaSpace was founded in 2022 as a wholly owned subsidiary of ArianeGroup. The company is developing a two-stage, partially reusable launch vehicle called Maia, designed to deliver up to 4,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit when flown in its expendable configuration with the optional kick stage.
On 15 January, MaiaSpace announced that it had secured a multi-launch agreement with Eutelsat to deliver satellites for its OneWeb constellation to low Earth orbit. According to the release, the agreement has the potential to account for “the majority of [the] Maia launch manifest during the first three years of operation.”
“This agreement with an experienced and renowned satellite operator confirms that Maia is well-suited for deploying or replenishing satellite broadband constellations,” said MaiaSpace CEO Yohann Leroy. In the aftermath of the ESA ministerial conference, where key decisions were taken on the European Launcher Challenge and access to the European institutional market, MaiaSpace already stands on the two pillars needed for economic viability: being competitive on the commercial market while [being] considered strategic for Europe’s sovereign access to space.”
Currently, MaiaSpace is working toward an inaugural flight of its Maia rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana before the end of the year. The mission is expected to be a suborbital demonstration flight, with the two-stage rocket carrying a reduced propellant load. The company then expects to move forward with commercial operations in 2027. It aims to reach a launch cadence of up to 20 missions per year from its French Guiana launch site by the start of the next decade.
The OneWeb satellites earmarked for launch aboard Maia will be a portion of the 440 that the company has contracted Airbus Defence and Space to manufacture. Delivery of the satellites is expected to begin before the end of the year.
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