One Request, Up to Five Providers: How Anonymous Launch Requests Work on Carrier Space

On Carrier Space you can send one launch request to up to five providers at once, without creating an account and without revealing who you are. You describe your payload, orbit and launch window in one form, choose the providers yourself or have suitable ones suggested, and Carrier Space checks the request for completeness and plausibility before forwarding it without your name and contact details. The providers answer with indicative offers, which are non-binding quotes. A provider learns who you are only after you select its offer and confirm the disclosure. The request is free for customers.

This article explains what you do in the form step by step, what happens after you press send, and why this matters for anyone shopping for satellite launch services, especially universities and research institutes that have to collect several offers. If you want to know what a good launch request should contain and how to compare the offers you get back, read our companion guide How to Request Launch Quotes. This article focuses on the tool itself.

The problem: comparable launch offers take weeks

There is no central place where a satellite team can ask the launch market a single question. Prices, capacity, orbits and terms sit with each launch provider, broker and orbital transfer vehicle operator. Some publish a lot: SpaceX lists its open rideshare flights in its booking system, and on 2 November 2026 its public flight list showed two open sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) rideshare flights, no earlier than June 2027 and October 2027. For most other options a customer has to find and contact each launch provider, broker and operator individually, and explain the mission again each time.

For a commercial startup that is mainly a time problem. For a public institute it is also a rules problem, because procurement law usually asks for more than one offer:

United States, federal buyers: FAR 13.104 requires contracting officers to promote competition to the maximum extent practicable. Under simplified acquisition procedures it tells them to consider soliciting at least three sources and, whenever practicable, to request quotes from two sources not included in the previous solicitation. The simplified acquisition threshold in FAR 2.101 is currently $350,000.
European Union, above the EU thresholds: Directive 2014/24/EU sets a minimum of five candidates in the restricted procedure and three in the competitive procedure with negotiation (Article 65(2)). A negotiated award to a single supplier without prior publication is reserved for narrow cases, for example when competition is absent for technical reasons (Article 32(2)(b)).
Germany, below the EU thresholds: the Unterschwellenvergabeordnung (UVgO) requires public buyers in a negotiated award without a participation contest to invite several, as a rule at least three, companies to submit an offer (§ 12(2)). The same "at least three" rule applies to the restricted tender without a participation contest (§ 11(1)).

Whether these rules apply to a particular launch purchase depends on the buyer, the funding and the contract value, so check with your procurement office. The practical consequence is the same in most cases: a university or institute that wants to book a launch should expect to collect at least three comparable offers and to document how it found them. Today that means contacting each provider and broker separately, explaining the mission each time and then lining up answers that were given on different assumptions.

What the Carrier Space request does

The request on carrier-space.com/anfrage replaces those separate first contacts with one structured form. In short:

One form, up to five recipients: you describe the mission once and choose up to five providers, or ask Carrier Space to suggest suitable ones.
No account needed: you can send the request without registering. Carrier Space sends a confirmation link to the business email you enter.
Checked before forwarding: Carrier Space reviews each request for completeness and plausibility before it goes out.
Anonymous to providers: providers receive the project, not your name, your organisation or your contact details.
Indicative, non-binding offers: providers answer with indicative offers, and the offers come back through Carrier Space in one comparable view.
Free for customers: the request costs you nothing. The form states openly that providers pay Carrier Space for the referral and that only providers that have accepted the Carrier Space agreement submit offers.

Step by step: what you fill in

1. Your payload

You start with the type of payload: a satellite without cube form (usually from about 30 kg), a CubeSat, a PocketQube, an instrument hosted on another satellite, or something else. The design determines how the satellite is attached to the launch vehicle. Then you enter the weight per payload in kilograms, including propellant and without dispenser. An estimate is enough. If you plan several identical satellites, you enter the number; different payloads need one request each.

Two more questions matter for price and lead time. Do you have your own separation system or dispenser, or should the provider supply it? The form notes that a provider-supplied system costs extra and needs lead time. And is there propulsion or a pressure vessel on board, defined as more than about 7 bar or more than 20 kJ of stored energy? Every one of these questions accepts "Not sure yet".

2. Destination and date

Next you pick the orbit, from SSO and LEO to GTO, GEO, lunar or interplanetary destinations, or a custom orbit. If you are not sure yet, Carrier Space briefly clarifies the orbit with you before forwarding. You set the earliest launch date by quarter, because the provider fixes the exact day later. Finally you choose the launch option: rideshare, primary payload, dedicated launch or "Not sure yet". With "Not sure yet" each provider can offer either a rideshare or a dedicated launch.

3. More details, all optional

An optional section lets you sharpen the request. The more you fill in, the more precise the indicative offers. It covers:

Dates: the latest acceptable launch date, when the payload will be fully tested and ready to ship, how flexible the date is and whether a hard deadline exists, for example from funding, a frequency or ITU deadline, an operating licence or a customer contract.
Technical details: the interface to the launch vehicle (separation ring sizes from 8 inch to more than 24 inch, a 4-point mount or other), protrusions, stowed dimensions, hazardous components and the transmitter band.
Licences and permits: US-origin parts, cameras or Earth observation sensors on board, the end-of-life disposal method and the status of the operating licence and registration.
Add-on services: integration into a dispenser, onward transport in orbit with an orbital transfer vehicle, environmental testing, fueling at the launch site and launch insurance, plus special launch site needs such as charging after integration, nitrogen purge or late integration.

4. Information only Carrier Space sees

Some fields are marked "Carrier Space only". According to the form, providers never receive your budget, your funding status or your notes. Carrier Space summarises what providers need for an indicative offer without reference to you. In this part you can state the purpose of the mission, whether providers must be European or US (relevant, for example, for funding from the EU Flight Ticket Initiative, and referring to the launch vehicle, not the launch site), when you want to choose a provider, what matters most to you (low price, early launch or reliability, at most two answers) and a budget range.

5. Choose up to five providers

You now decide who receives the request. You can tick "Ask for suitable providers to be suggested". In that case Carrier Space reviews your request first and sends you providers that match your payload and orbit, and you still decide yourself who receives it. Or you pick up to five providers from an alphabetical list that you can filter by provider type (launch provider, broker, orbital transfer vehicle operator) and by country. A "Fits payload" column compares your weight and orbit with the published capacity of each provider's launch vehicles. It is for orientation only.

Mixing provider types is often useful. A request that goes to two launch providers, two rideshare brokers and one transfer vehicle operator gives you a view of direct and indirect routes to the same orbit. Our overview of launch brokers and rideshare integrators explains how these roles differ.

6. Contact and consent

Finally you enter your name, business email, organisation, type of organisation and country. The confirmation link goes to that email address. Two consents are required: that Carrier Space forwards the request to the providers you selected without your name and contact details, and that you understand providers pay Carrier Space for the referral while the request stays free for you. An optional third box publishes your payload as an anonymous listing in the Rideshare Marketplace, showing payload, target orbit and launch window but not your name or organisation, after review by Carrier Space.

What happens after you send the request

Confirmation: you confirm the request through the link sent to your business email.
Review: Carrier Space checks the request for completeness and plausibility. If the orbit is open, it clarifies it with you first. For classified missions it contacts you before forwarding.
Anonymous forwarding: the providers you selected receive the project without your identity, by personal link or in their provider account.
Indicative offers: providers answer with non-binding indicative offers, which come back through Carrier Space in one comparable view. You can create a profile to follow your requests and offers.
Your choice, one provider at a time: when you pick an offer and confirm the disclosure, that provider learns who you are. The others do not.

Why anonymity helps the buyer

When you buy satellite launch services through an anonymous request, two things change. First, providers quote on the project, not on the name. A first-time university team and an established operator with the same 20 kg CubeSat get offers on the same description. Second, you keep control of your inbox. Only the provider you pick receives your contact details, so you avoid follow-up calls from every company you asked for a price. For institutes this also keeps the paper trail simple: all offers answer the same request text, which makes it easier to document why one offer was chosen.

Worked example: a university with a 12U CubeSat

Take a German university institute with a 20 kg 12U CubeSat for an in-orbit demonstration. It needs a sun-synchronous orbit around 500 to 600 km, the payload will be tested and ready to ship in Q2 2027, and project funding ends in mid-2028, so the latest acceptable launch date is Q2 2028. Its procurement office expects at least three comparable offers.

Payload: CubeSat, 20 kg, one unit, dispenser from the provider, no propulsion.
Destination and date: SSO, earliest launch Q3 2027, rideshare.
Details: latest date Q2 2028, hard deadline "Funding", transmitter in UHF/VHF and S-band, operating licence "In preparation".
Carrier Space only: purpose "In-orbit demonstration", provider origin "No requirement", priorities "Low price" and "Early launch", plus the budget range from the grant.
Providers: instead of picking blindly, the team ticks "Ask for suitable providers to be suggested", then selects five from the shortlist, for example three brokers and rideshare integrators, one launch provider and one orbital transfer vehicle operator.

Without the form, this team would send five emails with five slightly different mission descriptions and wait for answers in five formats. With one request, all five providers quote on the same assumptions, and the procurement office gets offers that can be compared line by line. If you are an institute in this situation, also check whether a free or subsidised route fits: see our guide to free and subsidised CubeSat launches for universities.

How the request fits with comparing vehicles and providers

The request is the last step of a short path on the platform. On Vehicles you can filter launch vehicles by payload weight, target orbit, country and provider and compare them by payload and technical data. On Providers you can filter launch providers, brokers and transfer vehicle operators by type and country. On Missions you see rideshare missions with dates, price per kg where published and status. Once you know which three to five candidates look plausible, the request turns that shortlist into offers. Our article on comparing launch vehicles side by side shows that first step in detail.

FAQ

Do I need an account to send a launch request?

No. You can send the request without an account. You confirm it through a link sent to your business email and can create a profile later to follow your requests and offers.

How many providers can I ask at once?

Up to five per request. You choose them yourself or ask Carrier Space to suggest suitable providers after reviewing your request, and you still decide who receives it.

Will providers see my name and organisation?

No. Carrier Space forwards the request without your name and contact details. A provider learns who you are only after you select its offer and confirm the disclosure, one provider at a time.

Are the offers binding?

No. Providers answer with indicative offers, which are non-binding quotes. You decide whether to take an offer further, and only the provider you select learns who you are.

What does the request cost?

It is free for customers. As the form states, providers pay Carrier Space for the referral, and only providers that have accepted the Carrier Space agreement submit offers.

What if I do not know my orbit or launch option yet?

Every question allows "Not sure yet". If the orbit is open, Carrier Space clarifies it with you before forwarding. If the launch option is open, each provider can offer a rideshare or a dedicated launch.

Can a university use this to collect the three offers its procurement rules require?

The request lets you ask up to five providers on the same basis, which makes the offers easier to compare and document. Whether indicative offers are enough for your procedure, or whether a formal tender is needed, depends on your procurement rules and contract value, so check with your procurement office.

Send your request

If you have a payload, an orbit and a rough launch window, you have enough for a first request. Open the request form, describe your mission once and choose up to five providers, or let Carrier Space suggest them. To build a shortlist first, compare launch vehicles, providers and open rideshare missions on Carrier Space.

Sources

Cover image: CubeSats deployed from the Japanese Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD-6) on the International Space Station, January 2017. Photo: NASA/Peggy Whitson, public domain.