Momentus Set to Launch Multiple U.S. Government and Commercial Payloads, Showcasing Advanced Capabilities on Upcoming Transporter‑16 Rideshare with SpaceX
Momentus Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTS), a U.S. commercial space company specializing in satellite technology, space transportation, and orbital services, announced today that the Company has delivered its Vigoride Orbital Service Vehicle (OSV) to Vandenberg Space Force Base in California ahead of its launch on SpaceX's upcoming Transporter‑16 rideshare mission, targeted for no earlier than late March 2026.
The Vigoride OSV has been integrated with a launch plate that will be carried on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The priorities of this mission include hosting 10 payloads with a suite of cutting-edge demonstrations, including autonomous rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO), in-space assembly, advanced communications and next-generation onboard computing technologies.
These activities are being conducted under contracts with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), U.S. Department of War organizations, and commercial customers and partners, including contracts valued at approximately $4.2 million with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an approximately $1.9 million contract with SpaceWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Space Force, and contracts with NASA's Johnson Space Center and Armstrong Flight Research Center.
"The Vigoride 7 mission with many payloads has the potential to be a historic leap forward for in-space logistics and autonomy capabilities needed for the growing space economy and military and government operations in space," said Momentus CEO John Rood. "We are delighted to be hosting this large group of cutting-edge space technologies. We have a great set of customers and partners from U.S. Department of War organizations (DARPA, the Space Force, and AFRL), NASA, as well as innovative commercial space companies like Portal, Orbit Fab, CisLunar Industries, DPhi, and Solstar Space manifested to fly onboard Vigoride 7."
All payloads will be operated through Momentus' control center in San Jose, California, with live mission support extended through remote operations hubs for selected demonstrations. With over 300 kg of payload capacity and on-board peak power up to 3 kW, the Vigoride Orbital Service Vehicle is positioned to support increasingly complex commercial and government use cases in LEO and beyond.
Parties interested in integrating with Vigoride 9 or future missions may contact [email protected].
Further background on the key payloads and demonstrations aboard Vigoride 7 is contained in the attached background paper.
About Momentus
Momentus is a U.S. commercial space company offering satellites, satellite components, and in-space transportation and infrastructure services. Through its Vigoride orbital service vehicle, the company delivers hosted payload support, last-mile delivery, and servicing capabilities tailored to scalable mission architectures.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain statements which may constitute "forward-looking statements" for purposes of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expected filing of the Company's Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and its management team's expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future, projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, and are not guarantees of future performance. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of Momentus' control. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to risks and uncertainties included under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed by the Company on April 9, 2025, as such factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with the Commission, accessible on the Commission's website at www.sec.gov and the Investor Relations section of our website at investors.momentus.space. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and, except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Background on Vigoride 7 Payloads
- SpaceWERX RPO Demo – Momentus was awarded a contract by SpaceWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Space Force, under the Sustained Space Maneuver Challenge for the on-orbit demonstration of a low-cost multispectral rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) sensor suite. Momentus developed an onboard navigation system that the Company plans to demonstrate and test on orbit on the upcoming mission. This capability is designed to facilitate semi-autonomous RPO without prior knowledge of space client objects and for use with unprepared objects. Such capabilities are critical for refueling, close inspection, servicing, relocation, and formation flying of satellites and other assets, as well as debris removal.
- DARPA NOM4D Program – Momentus plans to host and support the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA's) Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials and Mass-efficient Design (NOM4D) payload, designed to validate in-space assembly of modular structures. Momentus is under contract to provide full-service support to the DARPA NOM4D program, including arranging launch services, payload integration, and on-orbit hosting of the payload for a complex in-space assembly mission. This effort is intended to validate the functionality, performance, and reliability of the in-space assembly payload in the LEO space environment.
- NASA Space Act Agreement with Johnson Space Center -- Momentus plans to deliver a NASA CubeSat to low Earth orbit (LEO) to demonstrate joint rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) as well as formation flying. Central to the mission is NASA's R5 Spacecraft 10 (R5-S10), which will act as a free-flying imager for Momentus' Vigoride 7 Orbital Service Vehicle (OSV), assessing spacecraft health and performance. The R5-S10 technology demonstration mission is funded and managed by NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology (SST) program and the Engineering Directorate at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The SST program is based at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley and operates in the agency's Space Technology Mission Directorate. This demonstration marks a critical step in refining In-Space Assembly and Manufacturing (ISAM) capabilities—essential for future autonomous space operations. Additionally, inter-satellite link demonstrations using WiFi-based data transmission will enable the CubeSat to transfer large files to the Vigoride host platform. These files will be downlinked to the Momentus Operations Center and NASA Johnson, demonstrating the viability of real-time space communication for future missions.
- Portal Space Systems, Inc.'s, Flight Computer Demo – In its first on-orbit mission, Portal plans to test its advanced spacecraft computing and avionics suite, designed to enable autonomous operations in high-radiation and thermally dynamic environments. The system supports Portal's development of the Supernova platform for transorbital missions.
- CisLunar Industries, Inc.'s Electric Power Processing Unit – Under a contract from NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, Momentus plans to host a system made by CisLunar Industries that will test scalable power delivery architectures critical to high-thrust propulsion and in-space assembly applications.
- Orbit Fab, Inc.'s Podracer Infrared Imaging Suite – U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) – Momentus plans to host Orbit Fab's payload to support development of low-cost, advanced capabilities to support real-time space domain awareness, threat detection, and remote orbital calibration experiments.
- Solstar Space Company's Deke Space Communicator – Momentus plans to host Solstar's commercial always-on communications gateway designed to enable persistent payload connectivity and telemetry access. This innovative system is designed to enable narrowband communications between spacecraft and persistent space-to-ground communication, as well as Space Wi-Fi for proximity operations.
- DPhi Space's Clustergate-2 payload – DPhi, an innovator in artificial intelligence (AI) and data infrastructure technologies, has produced this payload that is designed to enable the deployment and operation of software payloads throughout the mission lifecycle, unlocking new opportunities for real-time and autonomous data processing from orbit. This partnership embodies a shared mission to make space experimentation more accessible.
- 3D Printed Propellant Tank – Velo3D. The fuel tank, designed by Momentus and manufactured using Velo3D's advanced metal 3D printing technology, represents a significant step forward in the adoption of additive manufacturing for mission-critical spacecraft components. By leveraging Velo3D's fully integrated solution, Momentus designed and produced a tank with optimized features that would be difficult to achieve with traditional manufacturing methods. Momentus plans to utilize this technology to serve new markets as a qualified supplier for space-rated fuel tanks that typically are high cost and require long lead times.
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