Designing for Launchability: Aligning Satellites and Launch Vehicles for Mission Success

The success of a space mission depends not only on innovative satellite technology or a powerful rocket—it hinges on the seamless integration between payload and launch vehicle. This presentation explores “launchability” from both sides: what satellite developers must consider to ensure successful, cost-effective access to space, and what emerging launch vehicle providers need to understand to design offerings that truly meet customer needs.

For satellite teams, launchability means more than surviving the ride to orbit. It means minimizing mass and volume to reduce launch costs, designing form factors that maximize fairing efficiency, accommodating multiple launch environments to keep options open, and navigating the complex logistics of export compliance, hazardous materials handling, and procurement lead times for launch slots and separation systems.

For launch vehicle providers, it’s critical to remember they’re not just building rockets—they’re launching customer payloads. This requires designing with customer attractiveness in mind: offering orbits in demand, clear and competitive pricing, generous and usable mass/volume envelopes, streamlined campaign timelines, and thoughtfully designed payload processing facilities. They must also understand how to calculate and communicate true costs per payload, and how to build a customer experience that simplifies—not complicates—the path to orbit.

Drawing on real-world experience and lessons learned from both sides of the integration aisle, this session offers practical guidance for designing with mutual success in mind. It advocates for early alignment between vehicle capabilities and customer needs to ensure reliable, affordable, and scalable access to space.