Generation Orbit Launch Services (GO) is an American
aerospace company based in
Atlanta, Georgia that is developing the technology for launch services for small
payload
Payload is the object or the entity which is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of ...
s. The air-launch approach developed by GO and its partners offers flexible launch capabilities, poised to reduce fixed infrastructure needs, launch costs, and the time from contract signature to launch for government and industry customers alike.
History
GO was founded on April 25, 2011 as a subsidiary company of
SpaceWorks Enterprises, Inc. In 2013, GO competed in the
NewSpace Business Plan Competition (BPC), winning first place and the $100,000 prize. The BPC was administered by the
Space Frontier Foundation and held at Stanford University. Following the Business Plan Competition, GO was selected in September 2013 for
NASA's Enabling eXploration and Technology (NEXT) contract, with an award of $2.1 million.
GOLauncher family
Generation Orbit is developing the GOLauncher family, a series of high-speed flight and space launch systems designed to lower costs, improve responsiveness, and increase overall mission flexibility.
GO-FET is a captive carry test platform for avionics, spacecraft hardware, fluids experiments,
CubeSats,
nanosat
A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites ...
s, and pre-release flight maneuver testing. The GO-FET configuration uses a
Learjet 35 aircraft platform that was first flown on July 30, 2014.
The
X-60A GOLauncher 1 (GO1) is an air-launched single stage
suborbital rocket vehicle.
References
External links
* {{URL, www.generationorbit.com
Commercial spaceflight
Companies based in Atlanta
Private spaceflight companies