Spaceflight has shipped its brand new fully integrated Sherpa-LTC orbital transfer vehicle to Cape Canaveral for launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and signed a deal with Arianespace to launch on Vega missions as soon as next year.

Spaceflight CEO Curt Blake joined us on the podcast to talk about what these latest versions of Sherpa can do and the challenges of delivering satellites beyond LEO to trans-lunar, low-lunar, and GEO orbits.

We also talked about the benefits of green propulsion technology, the company’s relationship with SpaceX as it progresses toward a Starlink mission launch later this month, new launch costs for small satellite customers, and the impact of launch services adding satellite manufacturing and mission management capabilities on broadening access to space.

Editor's note: This podcast was released online on August 8. We apologize for the delay in getting the episode to your podcast feed.