Astranis upgrades Falcon 9 deal to dedicated mission for six Block 4 satellites

Astranis said on Monday it has upgraded its fourth launch to a dedicated mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket set to launch in 2028, allowing it to carry the entire Block 4 production run of its MicroGEO satellites. (SpaceNews)

The mission will carry six MicroGEO satellites, placed directly into geostationary orbit using an Impulse Helios upper stage, expanding Astranis’s capacity to serve commercial and government customers around the world. The launch will bring the company’s fleet to 16 satellites, adding to the 10 built across Blocks 1, 2 and 3.

Astranis said it has already signed a number of initial customers for Block 4, to be announced at a later date. The change is an amendment to an initial contract signed with SpaceX in late 2024 that gives Astranis the full payload capacity of the mission.

“We’ve only just begun to ramp up production to meet the demand we are seeing for commercial and national security missions,” Astranis chief executive John Gedmark said. “This launch means we can accelerate the critical infrastructure we’re building for customers in GEO and other higher orbits.”

Astranis says it is servicing a backlog of more than $1 billion in commercial contracts and has raised over $1.2 billion from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, BlackRock and Fidelity.

Sources

• SpaceNews: “Astranis Upgrades Falcon 9 Launch Contract to Dedicated Mission for Entire Block 4 Production Run of Satellites” — https://spacenews.com/astranis-upgrades-falcon-9-launch-contract-to-dedicated-mission-for-entire-block-4-production-run-of-satellites/