As the name suggests, the initiative resembles a kind of UberPool for satellites, allowing different operators to hitch a ride into space on the same rocket and split the cost, rather than having to invest upwards of $60 million to charter an individual rocket.
Under the SmallSat Rideshare Program, it costs only $1 million to send a 200-kilogram spacecraft into sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), which houses imaging, military and weather satellites.
SpaceX aims to serve this orbit via a regular service every four months, in a bid to provide increased access to space for small satellite operators seeking a reliable, affordable ride to orbit .