Winner winner (6/22/22)

Good morning. This week, the Payload team of five is all together for the first time ever somewhere in upstate New York. Send us your hopes and prayers that it doesn’t rain this afternoon. We want to go hiking.

In today's newsletter:🚀 Isar launch agreement✅ LEO poll results💸 The term sheet

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Isar 🤝 D-Orbit

Italy’s D-Orbit and Germany’s Isar Aerospace have inked a launch services deal. The mission will be launched aboard the German launch startup’s two-stage Spectrum rocket from Norway’s Andøya Space no earlier than 2023.

D-Orbit offers “last-mile” space transportation services via its ION Satellite Carrier. The orbital transfer vehicle is capable of deploying several satellites into distinct orbital slots. D-Orbit claims that the spacecraft reduces the time from launch to operations by up to 85% and launch costs by up to 40%.

• By the way…D-Orbit announced plans to go public via SPAC at the beginning of the year.

“We are glad to partner with Isar Aerospace and have great confidence in the technological development of the Spectrum launch vehicle,” said D-Orbit CEO Renato Panesi. “Together we will leverage the potential of in-orbit transportation.”

Isar’s 28-meter Spectrum vehicle launch is designed to carry up to 700 kg payloads to sun-synchronous orbit. The company is currently targeting 2023 for Spectrum’s maiden flight.

Isar Aerospace launch manifest

Isar’s D-Orbit deal is the latest contract in an impressive, growing pre-maiden-flight launch manifest being built by the German launch startup.

• Isar signed its first launch contract with Airbus in April 2021 to launch an as-yet unconfirmed Earth observation satellite.

• Also in April, Isar won the first round of the DLR Microlauncher Competition. As winners, the launch startup was awarded €11M and will be required to carry 150 kg of institutional payloads free of charge aboard the company’s first two Spectrum flights.

• Isar has also signed launch deals with OroraTech, EnduroSat, and Astrocast.

• In addition to these firm launch contracts, many of Isar’s customers have also retained the option for additional Spectrum flights.

Launch ain’t cheap

Isar is the most well-funded launch startup in Europe, having raised $180M+ to date. Most recently, Isar completed a $75M extension of its Series B. In addition to its funding success, the startup has also won €11M as part of the DLR Microlauncher Competition (as stated above) and €10M as winner of the European Commission’s low-cost launcher award.

Share this with someone who needs more launch deal news in their life:

We have a winner!

On Thursday, we asked you: “If your employer covered costs, would you take a trip to low-Earth orbit? For the sake of this poll, assume you'd have a one-month stay and 10-hour workdays. So…would you go?” We received 266 votes.

Definitely yes won with ~74% of the vote.

Bear in mind: This is a self-selecting audience and very much a non-scientific poll. As one of you wrote: “I guess the poll is going to be biased given the audience, but count me in for whatever!” Biased as they may be, the results emphatically state what we had expected: Payload’s readers are an intrepid bunch that by and large would leap at the opportunity to work in LEO. Some write-in responses, to that effect:

1. “I would take any chance to go to space for any amount of time”

2. “If there's an opportunity for the experience, can't say no!”

3. “HELL yes - the ultimate job perk”

Leaning yes, with caveats:

• “Definitely yes given that it is on board of a Falcon 9, or any other rocket who would have a safety exit like the Crew Dragon does”

• “What would my life insurance premium jump to??”...and…“Would expect a massive bonus tied to it and a load of life insurance.”

• “Makes me think, would we get space-health insurance? Is that a thing? Hmmm... ”

Poll respondents aren’t a monolith…One reader rightfully noted that the true answer is not as simple as a newsletter poll, and instead tied to many “external factors (newborn children that require care, planning an upcoming wedding) that may be temporary and not just intrinsic desires.”

Other readers cited fear of flying and epilepsy as reasons they would not go to LEO. Finally, one reader flatly stated that they “just do not see any need for it.”

Last but not least, our favorite response…“Trouble is, I am my employer!”

Share these results with space pollsters:

In Other News

• Viasat ($VSAT) received the shareholder approval it needed to complete its acquisition of Inmarsat.

• TransAstra announced that it has completed proof-of-concept testing on its Sutter Telescope System, which cheaply detects fast-moving objects in cislunar and deep space.

• SpaceX said if Dish's ($DISH) proposal to use a 12GHz spectrum band for terrestrial 5G was to go through, US Starlink users would experience interference and widespread service outages.

• China launched the Kuaizhou-1A rocket for the first time since its launch failure in December. The rocket delivered the Tianxing-1 satellite to orbit.

Selfies from Space

The InSight Mars lander’s first selfie, taken December 2018, showcases its solar panels—but, as its last selfie this April shows, these dust-laden panels are now creating less power as the mission draws to a close. NASA announced yesterday it will operate the lander’s seismometer for longer than previously intended, a plan that could gain more marsquake data but will run down InSight’s battery sooner.