SpinLaunch spins out sub-$1bn satcom rival, Meridian Space
What happened
SpinLaunch has spun off its satellite-communications unit as an independent company, Meridian Space, run by CEO Massimiliano Ladovaz. Meridian sells reflect-array-antenna satcom infrastructure, pitched to sovereign governments, regional operators and telecoms. Ladovaz said Meridian can build a full system — satellites, launch and ground segment — for under $1bn. SpinLaunch keeps kinetic launch, hypersonics and lunar-economy work. Meridian's first in-space demo flies no earlier than October 1, on a SpaceX Transporter-18 rideshare, and it has signed NanoAvionics to build its first satellites.
Read-across for SES
Meridian pitches the same sovereign-government and telecom buyers SES chases with IRIS² and its Elveo stake. Its claimed architecture undercuts SES's own meoSphere and Elveo cost base. It has no named sovereign customer yet, so the claim is unproven. But a sub-$1bn full-constellation figure sets a new low-cost anchor for buyers to cite in future negotiations.
As the brief filed it
[AGE: 15h] SpinLaunch has spun off its satellite business as Meridian Space, which claims it can build a full sovereign-connectivity constellation for under $1bn. A first in-space demo is due within days.