Making small rockets is not easy.

Although dozens of companies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to develop small satellite launchers in recent years, only two companies, Rocket Lab and Virgin Orbit, put any birds into orbit. In recent months, we have seen that the launch attempts of powerful companies such as Astra and Firefly have failed. Other competitors, such as Relativity Space and ABL Space Systems, have not yet entered the launch pad.

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Chris Thompson knows more about building rockets than most people; after 15 years in Boeing's aerospace department, he was one of SpaceX's earliest employees, where he helped develop the company's rockets and later worked at Virgin Galactic. After serving as Astra's chief engineer for three years, Thompson left the company last month. Now, Quartz can report that Thompson will serve as the chief technology officer of Phantom Space. The company was established to manufacture small rockets and is a direct competitor of Astra.

"Astra is currently in an interesting process of evolution," Thompson said of his decision to leave the public company. The company plans to become a platform for space entrepreneurs and has set a weekly launch in 2023. Target. "There are a lot of things that are about to happen... will be truly amazing. But... from an operational point of view, what physics will allow you to actually do is realistic-not only physics in the mechanical sense, but also Is there the physics of how many launches I can really make in a given year?"

Thompson said his decision was partly driven by unfinished business—he played a key role in developing SpaceX’s first rocket, the Falcon 1, a small launcher, when the company chose to focus on When its larger Falcon 9 rocket, the rocket was eventually discontinued. Arrived early, but now Thompson says that the market for aircraft capable of delivering 500 kilograms of payload into orbit is mature. Astra's current aircraft will try to fly again at the end of this month, and its designed load capacity is only 150 kg.

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Mirage Space has its own unusual history. It was founded by Jim Cantrell, another veteran in the private space field and an early advisor to Elon Musk. Cantrell founded its own rocket company Vector, but the company went bankrupt in 2019 after its main backer, venture capital fund Sequoia Capital, withdrew after testing and production delays. Now Cantrell says his new company has raised enough funds to build four demonstration rockets that will be launched in 2023. Moreover, he said, the scars of his previous failure taught him important lessons about cost discipline.

Cantrell said that he believes his company mainly competes with Virgin Orbit and Astra, while companies that aim to build larger rockets for larger payloads, such as Rocket Lab, Firefly and Relativity Space, are faced with larger companies from leading private rocket manufacturer SpaceX. pressure. "The only secret to success in small vehicles is productivity and flight rate," he said. For Thompson, this means starting with a simple design and optimizing it over time.

One major difference between Vector and Phantom Space is that the new company outsources the production of its propulsion system, which is the most expensive and difficult part of all rockets. Vector went bankrupt because the internal rocket engine failed to be delivered on time. Instead, Mirage is purchasing propulsion systems from Ursa Major, a company that specializes in rocket engines. Astra also found internal propulsion work to be a challenge, and it is reportedly buying rocket engines from its competitor Firefly.

Thompson's job is to integrate the propulsion system into the rocket, called Daytona, which can be operated simply and reliably. This is a change from SpaceX, which is the first to vertically integrate all aspects of its spacecraft.

"In SpaceX’s adventure, we had to do everything ourselves, no one did what we needed to do, or if they did, they were related to the big aerospace thinking, the big aerospace cost structure-this has changed ," He explained that SpaceX’s successful ecosystem has enabled new suppliers to emerge with cheaper and more efficient components.

Now, he only needs to put them together to make the last rocket lift off.

A version of this story originally appeared in Quartz's Space Business newsletter.

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