How Much Does It Cost to Fly a Hosted Payload?
Short answer: A hosted payload, your sensor flying on somebody else's satellite, is priced by negotiation: the host charges for the mass, power, pointing and data it gives up, and no operator publishes a rate card. NASA's TEMPO air-quality instrument, for example, flies on the commercial Intelsat 40e satellite, launched in April 2023. The alternative is your own satellite plus a ride, where the published floor is SpaceX's rideshare at $350k for 50 kg. The trade is control: you fly when the host flies, point where the host points, and live as long as the host lives.
List and rideshare prices as of 2026-10-11. Figures track the launch cost guide; contract prices vary.
Price by option
| Option | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Instrument on a commercial GEO satellite | Negotiated per mission | Example: NASA's TEMPO instrument on Intelsat 40e, launched April 7, 2023 |
| Payload slot on a LEO platform | Quoted per mission | Loft Orbital, for one, flies customer payloads on its own satellites (NASA's MURI radiometer flies on its YAM-5) |
| Your own smallsat instead: the ride | From $350k | SpaceX rideshare minimum (50 kg), plus the satellite itself |
The costs that are not on the price list
- Integration deadlines belong to the host: miss the host ship date and the slot is gone.
- Data downlink and pointing are negotiated, not owned.
- Anomalies on the host satellite end your mission too.
Frequently asked
Who sells hosted payload slots?
GEO operators such as Intelsat, which carries NASA's TEMPO, and LEO platform companies such as Loft Orbital, which fly customer instruments on their own satellites.
Is a hosted payload faster than a dedicated satellite?
Often, because you join a satellite already being built, but you inherit the host's schedule and any delay to it.
Run your own numbers
Mass, orbit, vehicle, insurance: the calculator does the delivered-cost math.
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Sources
Every figure on this page comes from one of these. Prices change; dates show when each was published or read.
- SpaceX launches Intelsat 40e with NASA's TEMPO instrument (April 7, 2023) (NASASpaceFlight, 2023-04-07)
- Loft Orbital: payloads on its satellite platforms; NASA MURI hosted on YAM-5 (Loft Orbital, 2026-10-11)
- SpaceX rideshare price list: $7,000/kg for 2026 flights, $7,500/kg for 2027, 50 kg minimum (SpaceX (rideshare price list behind rideshare.spacex.com), 2026-10-11)
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