Maine Company Plans to Launch Small Satellites Starting in 2025

Maine Company Plans to Launch Small Satellites Starting in 2025

PORTLAND, Maine — A Maine-based company, bluShift Aerospace, is gearing up to send small satellites into space from the Northeast’s most rural state, with plans to start launches next year.

The Brunswick-based company has been working towards establishing Maine as a hub for commercial nanosatellite launches for over three years. Thanks to a successful recent round of fundraising, bluShift Aerospace is on track to begin commercial suborbital launches in 2025, according to company officials.

CEO and founder Sascha Deri highlighted the need for dedicated, small-lift satellite deliveries to space, emphasizing the demand for rapid and affordable access to space and direct delivery to desired orbits. Currently, the small satellite market relies on larger companies like SpaceX, leading to long wait times.

The growth of the small satellite industry has been exponential, with the market for CubeSats expected to quadruple by 2030. BluShift’s innovative approach includes using nontoxic biofuel and reusable rockets to democratize access to orbit.

The company plans to utilize an existing spaceport for initial launches and aims to establish Maine’s rural Downeast coastline as a launch headquarters by 2026. The remote location offers launch opportunities over the Atlantic Ocean directly into polar orbit with minimal interference.

In a test run in 2021, bluShift successfully launched a 20-foot prototype rocket to an altitude of over 4,000 feet, simulating a small payload with Dutch cookies. Brady Brim-DeForest, managing partner at Late Stage Capital of Houston, will join the company as chairman of the board of directors.

With the promise of increased accessibility to space and a focus on sustainability, bluShift Aerospace is poised to make waves in the satellite industry starting in 2025.