Collected 2 negotiated proposals for the suborbital flight and 5 proposals for LEO launch
Identified the real launch opportunities that could accommodate biological payloads
The ResearchSat team is conducting microgravity research for a client from the pharma industry. They had already tested subsystems of their payload during a high‑altitude balloon flight. They developed a roadmap for advancing the TRL level of their microgravity testing platform through suborbital flights and full‑scale orbital demonstration, using a 1U satellite platform. ResearchSat engineers approached Precious Payload to help them build and manage a supply chain of contractors to analyze the roadmap and make sure it meets the budget, risk, and go‑to‑market constraints.
The ResearchSat team had some specific requirements, like super-late access to the biological payload prior to launch and a temperature-controlled facility to safely hand over and integrate the payload. These add-ons can significantly increase the price of a launch and narrow possible options. For sub-orbital missions, they were looking to collect and analyze time-sensitive samples and data as soon as possible upon landing.
ResearchSat is an Australian space startup building cubesats to conduct life sciences and pharmaceutical research in microgravity as an alternative to using ISS services. Supported by the Innovation & Collaboration Centre (ICC) and the University of Adelaide, the company is developing affordable spacecraft for experiments and definitive‑controlled environments.
Launch schedule of commercial suborbital and orbital launches
Mission data room with advanced requirements for biological payloads
Running multiple Requests for Proposal across different supplier types
At Precious Payload, we track and publish a real‑time launch schedule of all commercially available slots for orbital and suborbital flights. Every week, our team of mission managers verifies the launch data directly with launch operators and providers to ensure we are able to match customer requirements with launch opportunities and deliver verified proposals in less than a week.
We created a KYC profile and Mission Data Rooms for all past and future missions for ResearchSat, including suborbital and orbital mission designs. We distributed a Request for Launch to the matching launch providers, highlighting the additional requirements for late access and thermo‑controlled handling of the biological payload.
The next step was to send requests for launch services for both missions. Using Precious Payload’s powerhouse software, ResearchSat was able to get two proposals for the suborbital launch, and five proposals for the orbital launch. Additionally, we found emerging launch service providers planning suborbital test launches in 2022 that could accept a customer's payload and provide recovery.
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