LOXSAT 1 – Electron/Photon – Mahia LC-1 (NZ) – 17.07.2026

[zandr]

https://www.einpresswire.com/article/753922237/loxsat-payload-rolls-out-to-ksc-for-testing

LOXSAT Payload Rolls Out to KSC for Testing
^{News Provided By  Eta Space  October 22, 2024, 17:25 GMT  Share This Article}

Eta Space LOXSAT Team with the Fully Assembled Payload
Eta Space completes the assembly and integration of their cryogenic payload.
ROCKLEDGE, FL, UNITED STATES, October 22, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Eta Space, the leading provider of Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM) technology for space and energy applications, is excited to announce that assembly and integration of the LOXSAT payload is complete. The payload has officially rolled out to Kennedy Space Center where it will undergo environmental testing.
LOXSAT– a technology demonstration mission funded by NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate under a Tipping Point award, is set to demonstrate critical technologies in orbit that will enable orbital transfer vehicles to be refueled and reused. Upon successful conclusion of the environmental tests, the payload will be delivered to Long Beach California for integration with the rest of the spacecraft, built by Rocket Lab USA. The entire payload will then be sent to New Zealand for launch in late 2025.
"We are thrilled to meet this major milestone on the path towards launch", said Eta Space CEO William Notardonato. "As we transition from the fabrication and integration phase of the project to system testing and checkout, our team is excited to start more mission planning in detail. We can't wait to show that cryogenic propellants can be efficiently stored and transferred in microgravity."
Cryogenic fuels are safer and offer higher performance than other fuel alternatives but have perceived issues with boil off losses of the super cold fluid. Having proven long term zero boil off storage on Earth, Eta Space will prove they can be stored, and managed, for indefinite periods in space environment. Other testing will demonstrate the ability to transfer propellants from one tank to another. This capability will enable the deployment of fueling stations in orbit to allow for rapid maneuvering of large spacecraft across major orbit changes.
After proving key CFM technologies on LOXSAT, Eta Space will use the data and lessons learned to create a fully commercial orbiting fuel depot called Cryo-Dock™. This depot will have a standardized, agnostic interface to provide refueling of cryogenic upper stages and orbital transport vehicles in cis-lunar space. Once fuel is no longer a launch constraint, expect dramatically lower mission costs, reusable upper stages and easier access to other planets.
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[zandr]

https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/6824/

LOXSAT 1
Liftoff Time
No Earlier Than March, 2026

Mission Details
LOXSAT 1 will demonstrate long term storage of cryogenic propellants on orbit as well as fuel transfer experiments.
Manufacturer: Rocket Lab
Operator: Eta Space
Low Earth Orbit
1 Payload

Rocket
Electron/Photon rocket by Rocket Lab

Launch Site
Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand

[zandr]

https://x.com/RocketLab/status/1981104532244615658

Rocket Lab  @RocketLab
Built. Integrated. Preparing to fuel the future.
Our Photon spacecraft for @eta_space  & @NASA's LOXSAT cryogenic fueling mission is complete
 An end-to-end Rocket Lab mission
 Tech demo to support orbital propellant depots
 Launching on Electron in early 2026
Read more: http://bit.ly/4qmAl55

Аппарат дл демонстрации длительного ранения жидкого кислорода в космосе соединён с ускорителем Photon.

[zandr]

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/tech-demo-missions-program/cryogenic-fluid-management-cfm/nasa-industry-prepare-cryogenic-fuel-technology-demo/?utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=NASA_Marshall&utm_campaign=NASASocial&linkId=943075756

NASA, Industry Prepare Cryogenic Fuel Technology Demo
^{Daniel Boyette Communications Specialist  May 14, 2026}
NASA is collaborating with Eta Space of Rockledge, Florida, on an in‑orbit technology demonstration to advance a key capability for future deep space missions. The Liquid Oxygen Flight Demonstration, or LOXSAT, will test cryogenic fluid management technologies necessary for creating in-space propellant depots, essentially gas stations in space, that could support long-term exploration.

The LOXSAT payload is displayed inside Rocket Lab's Spacecraft Production Complex in Long Beach, California.  Rocket Lab

During a nine-month mission, LOXSAT will demonstrate 11 cryogenic fluid management technologies. Eta Space built LOXSAT as part of a NASA Tipping Point opportunity, and Rocket Lab is providing spacecraft and launch services to deliver it to low Earth orbit. The LOXSAT payload has been integrated with a Rocket Lab Photon satellite bus and will launch aboard the company's Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula no earlier than July 17.

Спойлер

The technologies that LOXSAT will demonstrate were selected to address the core challenges of using cryogenic, or super-cold, propellants in microgravity, including reducing boiloff, transferring propellant, maintaining tank pressure, and gauging propellant levels. Data collected from these tests will support development of future in-space propellant depots that could refuel spacecraft as they journey to the Moon, Mars, or other deep space destinations.

^{Members of NASA's Cryogenic Fluid Management project tour Rocket Lab's Spacecraft Production Complex in Long Beach, California, on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026 . The portfolio project team had the opportunity to view the LOXSAT payload and the setup for vibration testing. Credit  Rocket Lab}

NASA's LOXSAT team is composed of members of the Cryogenic Fluid Management Portfolio Project from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, and Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The cryogenic portfolio's work is part of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate and includes more than 20 individual technology development activities.

[свернуть]

[zandr]

NASA сотрудничает с компанией Eta Space из Рокледжа, штат Флорида, в рамках демонстрации технологий на орбите для развития ключевой возможности будущих миссий в дальний космос. Демонстрационный полет на жидком кислороде (LOXSAT) позволит протестировать технологии управления криогенными жидкостями, необходимые для создания в космосе хранилищ топлива, по сути, заправочных станций в космосе, которые могли бы поддерживать долгосрочные исследования.
В ходе девятимесячной миссии LOXSAT продемонстрирует 11 технологий управления криогенными жидкостями. Компания Eta Space создала LOXSAT в рамках программы NASA Tipping Point, а Rocket Lab предоставляет космический аппарат и услуги по запуску для его доставки на низкую околоземную орбиту. Полезная нагрузка LOXSAT интегрирована со спутниковой платформой Rocket Lab Photon и будет запущена на ракете Electron компании с пускового комплекса 1 на полуострове Махия в Новой Зеландии не ранее 17 июля.
Технологии, которые продемонстрирует LOXSAT, были выбраны для решения основных проблем использования криогенных, или сверххолодных, топлив в условиях микрогравитации, включая снижение испарения, перекачку топлива, поддержание давления в баке и измерение уровня топлива. Данные, полученные в ходе этих испытаний, послужат основой для разработки будущих космических топливных хранилищ, которые смогут заправлять космические аппараты во время их полетов к Луне, Марсу или другим пунктам назначения в дальнем космосе.