Spark-1
A spacecraft that hosts payloads in orbit and returns them to Earth
First flight October 2027 on SpaceX Transporter-22. Your payload can be on it: hosted on the bus through about two years in orbit, or carried inside the capsule and back in your hands six hours after landing.
Mission profile
Spark-1 flies the whole loop autonomously: rideshare launch on SpaceX Transporter-22, about two years in a 500 to 600 km sun-synchronous orbit, a de-orbit burn, hypersonic reentry, and a parachute landing in the ocean about 100 miles west of Vandenberg Space Force Base, with rapid recovery by ship.
Reentry is the hard part.
Hypersonic reentry rides behind heat shields built in-house, Mach 20+ capable, validated at full scale in the Mojave using rocket exhaust. About one week of refurbishment between flights.
- launch to deployment
- 1 to 2 h
- de-orbit to landing
- ~1 h
- payload back in hand
- L + 6 h
Payload interfaces
The conditions behind the cover figures: how a payload mounts, draws power, and moves data, from launch through reentry.
Mechanical & power
- Mounting
- Preloaded tabs, mounting rails, or M6 fasteners.
- Electrical power
- 24 V regulated and 28 ± 6 VDC unregulated, with 10 A peak for short durations. Surges to 300 W last up to 20 minutes.
- Power availability
- Powered throughout on-orbit operations. Unpowered during launch and reentry.
Reentry power available on request.
- Connectors & grounding
- One 9-pin D-sub for power and one 15-pin D-sub for communications. Grounding through the connector and the mounting interface.
Data & radio
- Command & telemetry
- RS-422 asynchronous command and telemetry to the flight computer, up to 1 Mbps.
Ethernet also supported. Additional interfaces available on request.
- Reentry blackout
- Live communication is unavailable for roughly 15 minutes during reentry.
- Payload transmitters
- Payload-provided transmitters must be declared, approved, and frequency-coordinated with Dispatch and spectrum authorities.
Program
- Integration
- Payload PDR at L-210 days, delivery to the Dispatch integration facility at L-60 days, and payload access until 24 hours before launch-vehicle integration.
- Documentation
- For structural design, dynamic and thermal environments, contamination control, and verification testing, start with the Payload User's Guide, the controlling document for every figure on this page.
What flies on Spark-1
First flight
October 2027
Fly on an early Spark-1 mission.