How a mission works
Getting an experiment into space is six different jobs, not one purchase.
Six jobs, usually done by six different kinds of company, in a fixed order. Most are invisible from the outside, and approaching them in the wrong order costs weeks. This page explains each one in plain English: what it is, who does it, roughly how long it takes, and who to speak to first.
Microgravity just means weightlessness. Nothing on Earth can hold it for more than a few seconds, so an experiment that needs it has to leave the ground — and these six jobs are what that takes.
Two ways through
Specialist providers
You hire a company per stage and own every handover. Drawn as six separate contract blocks, one for each of the six stages.
Managed service
One partner covers most of the chain. You sign once. Drawn as one bar covering stages 4 to 6 of 6, in place of 3 separate contracts.
Every service in the catalogue is labelled with the stages it covers, so you can see which route a company offers before you contact them.
Each stage in plain English
You find the money. Almost nobody pays for a space experiment out of a normal research budget — it comes from a grant, a competition or a programme. Read what each call actually pays for before you apply: some cover the launch, some only cover your own staff time.
Who does it. Space agencies, government innovation bodies and competition organisers.
How long. Weeks to months, set by each call’s deadline.
Who to contact
The funder directly, through the call’s own application page. Start here if you have no budget yet — everything below depends on it.
See open funding callsFunding
Who does it. Space agencies, government innovation bodies and competition organisers.
How long. Weeks to months, set by each call’s deadline.
You find the money. Almost nobody pays for a space experiment out of a normal research budget — it comes from a grant, a competition or a programme. Read what each call actually pays for before you apply: some cover the launch, some only cover your own staff time.
Who to contact
The funder directly, through the call’s own application page. Start here if you have no budget yet — everything below depends on it.
See open funding callsSomeone has to prove your experiment is safe to fly: nothing leaks, nothing catches fire, nothing endangers a crew, a station or another customer’s payload. Batteries, pressurised containers and chemicals all add paperwork. Export rules may apply to your hardware as well.
Who does it. Safety and licensing specialists, normally inside your integrator’s team rather than a company you hire yourself.
How long. Runs alongside the build. Roughly six months of qualification work, with the formal reviews clustered in the last few months.
Not where you start
Safety work needs to know the hardware and the platform first, so it cannot come before them. Your payload developer or integrator brings the safety specialists with them.
Go to payload developmentCompliance and safety
Who does it. Safety and licensing specialists, normally inside your integrator’s team rather than a company you hire yourself.
How long. Runs alongside the build. Roughly six months of qualification work, with the formal reviews clustered in the last few months.
Someone has to prove your experiment is safe to fly: nothing leaks, nothing catches fire, nothing endangers a crew, a station or another customer’s payload. Batteries, pressurised containers and chemicals all add paperwork. Export rules may apply to your hardware as well.
Not where you start
Safety work needs to know the hardware and the platform first, so it cannot come before them. Your payload developer or integrator brings the safety specialists with them.
Go to payload developmentYour experiment becomes flight hardware: a sealed, shake-proof version of your lab setup that runs itself and survives a rocket launch. If your work needs feeding, cooling or imaging while it is up there, this is the stage that builds it in.
Who does it. Payload developers and flight-hardware houses.
How long. About six months to design, build and test.
Start here
A payload developer is the right first call for most people. They will tell you what is realistic, what it takes to make your experiment flight-safe, and which platforms suit it.
See payload developersPayload development
Who does it. Payload developers and flight-hardware houses.
How long. About six months to design, build and test.
Your experiment becomes flight hardware: a sealed, shake-proof version of your lab setup that runs itself and survives a rocket launch. If your work needs feeding, cooling or imaging while it is up there, this is the stage that builds it in.
Start here
A payload developer is the right first call for most people. They will tell you what is realistic, what it takes to make your experiment flight-safe, and which platforms suit it.
See payload developersYour hardware is fitted to whatever carries it, and one team runs the mission end to end: the launch arrangements, the safety submissions, the handover at the launch site, the operations in orbit and the recovery afterwards. This is the stage that turns a box of hardware into a flight.
Who does it. Mission managers and integrators, who coordinate the platform, the launch and operations for you.
How long. Months of lead time. Flight readiness is confirmed about twelve weeks before launch, and your team spends seven to ten days at the launch site.
Start here
Also a safe first call, especially if you already have hardware. An integrator can take you the rest of the way, including finding the platform.
See integratorsIntegration and mission management
Who does it. Mission managers and integrators, who coordinate the platform, the launch and operations for you.
How long. Months of lead time. Flight readiness is confirmed about twelve weeks before launch, and your team spends seven to ten days at the launch site.
Your hardware is fitted to whatever carries it, and one team runs the mission end to end: the launch arrangements, the safety submissions, the handover at the launch site, the operations in orbit and the recovery afterwards. This is the stage that turns a box of hardware into a flight.
Start here
Also a safe first call, especially if you already have hardware. An integrator can take you the rest of the way, including finding the platform.
See integratorsThe thing that actually makes your experiment weightless. It might be inside a space station, mounted outside one, a small satellite that stays up, a capsule that comes back, a rocket flight, an aircraft flying arcs, or a tower on the ground. How long you get, and whether anything can come back, both depend on this choice.
Who does it. Station operators, free-flyer and capsule operators, launch providers and ground facilities.
How long. Seconds in a drop tower, minutes on a rocket flight, days to months on a station or free flyer.
Not where you start
A platform can only say yes to carrying something — it cannot design your hardware or do your safety case, and you will still need a payload provider afterwards. Reach platforms through stage 3 or 4, who will match your experiment to the right one.
Who to talk to firstMicrogravity hosting platform
Who does it. Station operators, free-flyer and capsule operators, launch providers and ground facilities.
How long. Seconds in a drop tower, minutes on a rocket flight, days to months on a station or free flyer.
The thing that actually makes your experiment weightless. It might be inside a space station, mounted outside one, a small satellite that stays up, a capsule that comes back, a rocket flight, an aircraft flying arcs, or a tower on the ground. How long you get, and whether anything can come back, both depend on this choice.
Not where you start
A platform can only say yes to carrying something — it cannot design your hardware or do your safety case, and you will still need a payload provider afterwards. Reach platforms through stage 3 or 4, who will match your experiment to the right one.
Who to talk to firstGetting results home. Two different things: measurements sent down as data during the mission, and the physical samples or hardware brought back to Earth. Most experiments need the samples themselves back — and many platforms cannot do that at all, so it is worth deciding early.
Who does it. Return-capable platforms, and the integrators who arrange recovery and cold handling.
How long. Measurements can come down throughout. Physical return follows the host mission’s own schedule.
Not where you start
A return-capsule specialist is the wrong first call for hardware, and a station cannot get your samples back on its own. Settle return with your integrator when you choose the platform — but tell them on day one that you need samples back.
Data and sample return
Who does it. Return-capable platforms, and the integrators who arrange recovery and cold handling.
How long. Measurements can come down throughout. Physical return follows the host mission’s own schedule.
Getting results home. Two different things: measurements sent down as data during the mission, and the physical samples or hardware brought back to Earth. Most experiments need the samples themselves back — and many platforms cannot do that at all, so it is worth deciding early.
Not where you start
A return-capsule specialist is the wrong first call for hardware, and a station cannot get your samples back on its own. Settle return with your integrator when you choose the platform — but tell them on day one that you need samples back.
What the money is spent on
A mission is a capital project, not a purchase off a shelf. There is no single price for one, because the total is the sum of these lines — and which of them you pay for depends entirely on the route you take.
- Building the flight hardware
- Modifying hardware that already exists
- The launch itself
- Astronaut time, if a crew has to handle it
- Facility fees on the platform
- The return capsule, if samples come back
- Renting lab space at the launch site
- The safety and qualification work
Grant coverage varies enormously, and a small grant will not reach space. Some calls pay for the launch and the hardware; others pay only for your own staff time. Check what a call covers before you count on it.
Where a provider publishes a price for a specific service, it is on that service’s page in their own currency, exactly as they published it.
Nothing here is bookable
This is not a flight-booking site. Providers do not hold slots waiting for customers, and there is no availability to check. Every mission is arranged as a project — dates come out of that conversation, not before it.
A realistic timeline
- ~6 mo
- Building and qualifying the payload
- 12 wk
- Before launch: flight readiness confirmed
- 7–10 d
- At the launch site with your samples
Typical for an orbital mission. A drop tower or a parabolic flight is far shorter, and a first-time flyer should expect the longer end.
Ready to look at who does what
Answer three short questions and we will show you the companies that fit, grouped by the stage they work in.
Or go straight to every service in the catalogue, compare up to three side by side or see which funding calls are open.