Cryogenic Fueling Mission Spacecraft Completed
Rocket Lab Working in Conjunction with Eta Space and NASA
The Photon spacecraft for Eta Space and NASA’s LOXSAT mission has been completed by Rocket Lab. The final piece to be cleared was the Systems Integration Review (SIR) which allows the spacecraft to proceed with payload integration. Rocket Lab will now move the mission into environmental testing – the next phase before its launch on Electron in early 2026.
“With LOXSAT, we’re supporting a critical technology demonstration that will enable key steps toward making orbital propellant depots a reality.”
Brad Clevenger, Rocket Lab
LOXSAT is an on-orbit technology demonstration of a cryogenic fluid management system, that will inform the design of Cryo-Dock, a full-scale cryogenic propellant depot in low Earth orbit to be operational in 2030.
Rocket Lab was selected in 2020 by Eta Space to provide both the spacecraft and its Electron launch vehicle for the LOXSAT mission, joining a growing list of spacecraft-plus-launch mission solutions supported by the Company, including the CAPSTONE lunar mission for NASA and the upcoming VICTUS HAZE mission for the U.S. Space Force. Rocket Lab’s end-to-end capabilities simplify mission execution and minimize cost and schedule risks, providing customers with a single, responsive space solutions partner for a wide range of mission objectives.
“With LOXSAT, we’re supporting a critical technology demonstration that will enable key steps toward making orbital propellant depots a reality,” said Brad Clevenger, vice president of Space Systems. “The ability to refuel in space is fundamental to unlocking reusable and sustainable exploration beyond Earth’s orbit. With the spacecraft build and payload integration complete, our team is focused on environmental testing ahead of its launch on Electron.”
“We chose Rocket Lab as a launch provider based on their proven Electron rocket and the chance to have a dedicated launch to our exact orbit on our schedule,” said Bill Notardonato, CEO of Eta Space. “But their spacecraft experience and payload hosting services have proven to be just as valuable as launch services for our project success.”
Despite being one of the most efficient and energetic propellants for spacecraft, cryogenic propellants can vaporize as temperature rises, causing critical loss on orbit. LOXSAT will test the ability to store liquid oxygen (LOX) in a zero-loss configuration, with the goal of creating a larger scale model in the future that could serve as a commercial cryogenic propellant depot in space. This would enable reuse and refueling of spacecraft on orbit.
The basis of the spacecraft is the Company’s Photon platform, which gained flight heritage in 2022 with NASA’s CAPSTONE mission to the Moon. LOXSAT was designed and built using Rocket Lab’s vertically integrated components and systems, including star trackers, propulsion systems, reaction wheels, solar panels, flight software, radios, composite structures, tanks, separation systems, and more. The spacecraft was produced and will undergo environmental testing at the Company’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California, and will ultimately be launched from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand.
The LOXSAT mission is sponsored by NASA’s Tipping Point program that aims to advance technologies that could support human space exploration in the future.
