Satellites can accomplish incredible tasks like provide internet, or help monitor wildfires. But many of them ultimately meet a fiery death burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Others use their last bit of fuel to move to so-called “graveyard” orbits, where they circle the planet in a perpetual deep freeze.
A new startup called Lux Aeterna wants to change this. The Denver-based company, which is coming out of stealth today, has designed a reusable satellite called Delphi that it aims to launch — and land — in 2027.
If successful, it could help slash the cost to get satellite payloads into space. It would also make the process far more flexible than it is today, since satellites are designed to stay in orbit for years and essentially can’t be modified for other uses.
These attributes have already piqued the interest of the Department of Defense, which has made low-Earth orbit an important part of the United States’ military strategy.
Venture capitalists have also taken notice — and written checks. The startup’s pitch was attractive enough to generate $4 million in pre-seed funding, led by Space Capital and including other early-stage funds like Dynamo Ventures and Mission One Capital.
Founder and CEO Brian Taylor said the idea for Lux Aeterna came to him last year while he watched his former employer, SpaceX, launch one of its Starship test vehicles into space.
“I want to fill Starship with something amazing, and something that changes the entire industry,” Taylor recalled thinking during an interview with TechCrunch.
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Starship is the biggest rocket ever built. As part of that, it has the potential to send larger payloads into space than was previously possible. Size matters for people who build satellites and other spacecraft, since they’re often working backwards from the simple constraint of what can fit inside a rocket’s cargo area. And Starship is not alone — there are other heavy-lift rockets in the works, too, like Blue Origin’s New Glenn.
It’s hard to design a satellite that can survive the brutal forces of re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds. But with the extra space afforded by heavy-lift rockets, Taylor said it’s possible to build one that can survive multiple re-entries without having to compromise on the technology because of cost or weight tradeoffs.
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