Make that, will be in orbit. France and his team of a dozen engineers and scientists aim to launch their first reusable satellite in mid-2028.<\/p>\n
Size-wise, you could think of it as three Air New Zealand catering carts stacked on top of each other, France says. <\/p>\n
Microgravity experiments are an obvious use, but \u201ccustomers can do whatever they want with it\u201d, France said.<\/p>\n
The real novelty is that Outlier Space\u2019s satellite will be re-usable.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s satellites use fuel to course correct. When it runs out, after five to seven years, they fall out of the sky.<\/p>\n
Several companies are trying to design a re-usable satellite. Perhaps the best known is Rocket Lab client Varda Space, which has launched several prototypes and returned them to Earth but, like its peers, has yet to re-fly any.<\/p>\n
\u201cRe-entry is definitely the hardest part, because you\u2019re slowing down from 25,000km\/h to zero in a few minutes,\u201d France said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s our core area of development. The rest of the satellite is an aggregation of existing technologies.”<\/p>\n
Outlier’s capsule. Several contenders are working on a reusable satellite, and some have been landed – but, so far, none have been successfully re-flown.<\/p>\n
So how will Outlier satellites return to Earth without burning up, or being too damaged for relaunch? <\/p>\n
That\u2019s under wraps. But France knows a thing or two about designing craft. Over 16 years and multiple campaigns, he was a design engineer for multiple Emirates Team NZ campaigns. <\/p>\n
Outlier Space founder Jamie France. France worked for Peter Beck at Rocket Lab for 10 years. Photo \/ Corey Fleming <\/p>\n
He later spent nearly 10 years with Rocket Lab, rising to be global director for Electron launch vehicle production, before he left in 2024 for a role with South Australian start-up Fleet Space Technologies \u2013 which, among other projects, was involved in an effort to locate subsurface water ice at the Moon\u2019s south pole.<\/p>\n