Satellite launchers are currently shuffling with two very different realities: on the one hand, the operators traditional market, with its moderately heavy loading market. On the other, the explosion of demand for low orbit (LEO) smaller devices, which obliges them to reconvert. Companies already known in the segment, as well as start-ups that are added to the "fever" by LEO, aim to cheap launches, of a large number of satellites, and more sites with availability to send them to orbit.

Kirk Piysher, president of International Launch Services (ILS), told Convergencialatina that the main project this year is the launch vehicle Proton Medium, which will have its first flight in the second half of 2019. It seeks to satisfy this demand for small satellite launches, 3.5 to 5 tons of weight, and as from 2020 it will also have a cap (a component that protects the payload of the satellite at launch and putting into orbit) of 5.2 meters in diameter, compared with the traditional one used in the Proton Breeze M, of 4 meters. "Operators are aiming to smaller vehicles, at a lower cost. They look for efficient launches in terms of costs, because they are going through difficult times with their business plans", said Pysher.

The strategy of dedicated launch for Smallsats is replicated in the case of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), which will present a new rocket, the H3, medium-range and in multiple variants: among them, a small version that according to the vice president of Mitsubishi, Ko Ogasawara, "will be cheaper for constellation or small rockets programs". The company aims to increase its average launch rate from four per year to 10 or even more by 2025. The executive admitted however that for it to be accomplished, it is not enough to have only one launch site, the Tanegashima Space Center, and they will have to inaugurate an additional one for the H3.

In the case of the United Launch Alliance (ULA), it was decided to manufacture a heavy load vehicle, Vulcan, but with more accessible pricing options for small satellite operators, with shared-trip missions, and in parallel, the big companies will continue being served. ULA thus transits its process of being an exclusive launcher of the US government, to become another alternative for the commercial market. Its CEO, Tory Bruno, even admitted that they see possibilities in the reuse of Vulcan: in particular, the upper stage of the rocket could be recovered, but he called on his competitors to test the reusability with different parts of the vehicles. "We can not all try the same, there will be no innovation if we all copy each other", he said.

Other player that will continue betting on heavy-load rockets is Arianespace, which will present the Ariane 6 in 2020 at a lower cost per launch, and with more availability than other previous vehicles of the company. "We are aiming to 11 launches a year with Ariane 6, but if there is demand, we can go further", suggested CEO Stephane Israel.