Impulse Space, an orbital transfer vehicle developer, has partnered with Exolaunch, a German provider of small satellite launch missions and deployment, to develop its GEO Rideshare Program.

The program aims to provide a rideshare service beginning in 2027 for spacecraft departing to geostationary orbit (GEO) using Impulse Space's Helios tug along with an upgraded version of its Mira vehicle.

As part of the rideshare program, Helios will support multiple ports, each able to host ~300 kilograms of payload, to take the spacecraft to GEO. Mira will provide ~500 meters with a full 300-kilogram payload, increasing to as much as 1,200 meters per second with a minimal payload.

Exolaunch will market payload opportunities and provide deployment systems under the collaborative. In-space refueling company Orbit Fab, a customer for the Mira vehicle, will host a fuel depot in 2026 as part of a mission to refuel the US Space Force's Tetra-5 satellite in GEO.

Analyst QuickTake: Impulse Space unveiled Helios, its high-energy kick stage, in January 2024 . Helios, powered by liquid oxygen and methane propellants, was developed to quickly transport satellites from low-Earth orbit to GEO within one day and can carry satellites weighing up to five tons.