Impulse Space’s New Rideshare Services to GEO
Impulse Space is offering new rideshare services to geostationary orbit (GEO) with its Helios and upgraded Mira vehicles.
At the Small Satellite Conference, they shared that they will work with Exolaunch for their GEO Rideshare Program, starting in 2027 with Helios on a special launch.
Earlier this year, Impulse introduced Helios, a powerful kick stage using liquid oxygen and methane. Helios can quickly transport satellites from low Earth orbit (LEO) to GEO, carrying up to 5,000 kilograms in one day.
Tom Mueller, Impulse’s CEO, explained they first aimed for bigger GEO satellites but found many smaller ones, weighing between half a ton to one ton. Realizing these satellites had few options to reach GEO, they decided to start a rideshare program.
“We’re going to gauge the demand and see if it’s real,” he said before a discussion about the program at the conference. “We think there are a lot of companies looking at this.”
Helios will have multiple ports for carrying spacecraft, each able to hold at least 300 kilograms. Exolaunch will manage the payload opportunities and deployment systems.
“Impulse’s introduction of the GEO Rideshare Program marks a transformative milestone for the satellite industry, making cost-effective and timely access to GEO a reality,” said Kier Fortier from Exolaunch. They have arranged rideshare launches for many smallsats, including a 16U cubesat to GEO in 2023.
I think it’s really cool how they are making space more accessible for smaller satellites.
Impulse is also enhancing its Mira vehicle. The first Mira flight was in November 2023 on a SpaceX mission. It deployed a cubesat and performed some maneuvers in LEO, raising its apogee by 150 kilometers in just 75 seconds.
Mueller mentioned that despite some communication and software issues, the mission was successful. These problems have been fixed for the next Mira launch with SpaceX in the fall.
The new Mira has better radiation protection and power supply. It supports different configurations for smallsats, like nine 16U cubesat dispensers.
Impulse plans to use Mira with Helios for GEO rideshare missions, where Mira will be deployed from Helios to move to desired orbits. It can handle tasks like space situational awareness with up to 500 meters per second of delta V for full payloads, and up to 1,200 meters per second for lighter ones.
They’ll also use Mira for LEO missions, with the first one launching in late 2025. One of Mira’s customers, Orbit Fab, will host a fuel depot on a Mira vehicle in 2026 to refuel a U.S. Space Force satellite in GEO.
As Mira gets upgraded, Impulse is also developing Helios, testing its engine powerpack and working on tanks. Helios will reuse avionics made for Mira.
“Last year was mostly about Mira and getting that LEO Express 1 mission up,” Mueller said. “This year is mostly about Helios.”
