Launch Ingot __full__ ✦ Must Watch

A single Falcon 9 rideshare mission might drop 10 to 15 launch ingots into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). While they are tracked by the 18th Space Defense Squadron, they are considered “passive disposable objects.”

“One month you are flying three microsats totaling 400 kilos. The next month, you are flying twelve cubesats and a space tug weighing 1,200 kilos,” explains Maria Chen, a launch vehicle integrator for a major smallsat launch provider. “You can’t redesign the rocket’s dynamic envelope for every flight. You need a variable counterweight.” launch ingot

Rawlings laughs, rubbing a scar on his knuckle. “But nobody respects it. You’ll see a team treat a cubesat like a newborn baby—gloves, microscopes, prayers. Then they toss the ingot on the dolly like a bag of cement. Last month, a guy dropped a 300-pounder on his foot. Crushed three toes.” A single Falcon 9 rideshare mission might drop