Impulse Space Books Three GEO Rideshare Missions Through 2028
Impulse Space expands its GEO rideshare program, booking three missions through 2028 and planning to double cadence.
Impulse Space has secured three GEO rideshare missions through 2028, with plans to double the program's cadence. The company announced the schedule at the Small Satellite Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is now considering adding two more missions in 2029.
Mission Schedule and Demand
The GEO rideshare program, first announced two years ago, will use Impulse Space’s Helios kick stage to place satellites directly into geostationary orbit. The first mission, Caravan 1, is slated for the first half of 2027 and its manifest is closed. Caravan 2, scheduled for Q1 2028, has a waitlist, as does a shared mission set for 2028. Caravan 3 is planned for Q4 2028 and is also closed. The company is looking at opening Caravan 4 in the first half of 2029 and Caravan 5 in the second half of 2029.
| Mission | Launch Window | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Caravan 1 | First half 2027 | Closed |
| Caravan 2 | Q1 2028 | Waitlist |
| Shared 2028 | 2028 | Waitlist |
| Caravan 3 | Q4 2028 | Closed |
| Caravan 4 | First half 2029 | Planned |
| Caravan 5 | Second half 2029 | Planned |
Demand for the rideshare service is high, with customers ranging from space situational awareness and space domain awareness operators to life-inspection satellites, scientific payloads and traditional satellite-communications providers. Satellite sizes on the manifest have varied from 16U to 1.5 tons.
Helios Vehicle Operations
In a typical Helios mission launched on a Falcon 9, the vehicle is released at an altitude of 160 km, similar to the deployment altitude of Starlink satellites. The Helios stage then performs two burns to reach beyond GEO. Payloads are deployed above GEO within eight hours of launch, allowing operators to verify all onboard systems before the satellites are dropped into their final geostationary slot.
Launch Vehicle Flexibility
Impulse Space is also evaluating rideshare missions on rockets other than the Falcon 9. This consideration follows SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s recent statement that the company will “wind down” Falcon 9 to shift engineering and production resources to Starship once Starship is “flying reliably several times per week.” Launch vehicle choice will depend on availability, the company said. “We love SpaceX. Whenever possible, we’re going to be able to take whatever manifest we can fly on SpaceX,” Rea added. “It’s always been in our business model to be launch-agnostic, so we are running down the path with a number of different launch providers. Exactly what launch provider for what mission will depend on market frames and manifest availability.”
The company’s CEO and founder, Tom Mueller, a former SpaceX engineer who designed the Merlin engine, leads Impulse Space. Mueller’s background underpins the company’s ambition to open access to GEO in the same way SpaceX opened access to LEO with its rideshare program.
Business Risks and Outlook
Rea acknowledged that operating a GEO rideshare service is highly risky. “It’s a highly risky business. We need to procure whatever the price is of a dedicated rocket, we need to build a vehicle, and then somehow slice and dice this to make our money back,” he said. “The margins are low. If someone misses their mission, it’s risky. But we see ourselves as stewards of opening access to these high-energy orbits, doing the same for GEO and trying to spur on a new set of space companies.”
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