Space Mobility Companies

Epic Aerospace develops a family of orbital transfer vehicles called Chimera, positioned as last-mile delivery for small satellites. Rideshare launches drop payloads into a single drop-off orbit; a tug then carries individual satellites to the specific orbit each one actually needs, a service that has become more valuable as rideshare has displaced dedicated small launch. The company was founded by Argentine engineer Ignacio Belieres Montero and retains strong engineering ties to Argentina. Its vehicles are designed to span the range from low Earth orbit to geostationary orbit and beyond, and are intended to refuel and repeat transfers rather than be discarded after a single delivery. Epic launched Chimera LEO 1, a nanosatellite-class transfer vehicle, and flew a Chimera to geostationary altitude as part of Intuitive Machines' IM-2 mission, which launched on a Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center in early 2025.

NewRocket develops in-space propulsion based on hypergolic bi-propellant gel technology, marketed as PowerGel. Gelled propellants sit between liquids and solids: they can be throttled and restarted like a liquid system, but are far less prone to leaking and are considerably safer to store and handle than hydrazine, the toxic monopropellant that still dominates satellite propulsion. The company was founded in 2014 by Zohar Schlagman and Moti Elyashiv at Incubit Ventures, an incubator backed by Elbit Systems, and works out of Netanya with ties to the Technion in Haifa. Its engines are aimed at satellites across size classes and at in-space applications requiring high-energy orbital transfer and manoeuvring. The green propulsion angle is regulatory as much as environmental: hydrazine handling drives significant cost and schedule burden at the launch site, and is under long-running scrutiny in Europe under REACH. NewRocket has won contracts with major aerospace corporations on projects exceeding $6 million.

Orbit2Orbit is a Gold Coast, Queensland startup developing what it describes as the first dedicated orbital logistics network — reusable, modular and refuellable vehicles intended to move cargo, equipment and resources between space stations and other orbital assets. The company's stated aim is to make docking, servicing and resupply in orbit a repeatable service rather than a bespoke mission. The company was founded by chief executive Bradley Hatton-Jones, previously a manufacturing engineer at Gilmour Space Technologies working on the Eris orbital launch vehicle. Orbit2Orbit runs a Pathfinder program designed to reduce technical risk, cost and time to flight by letting payloads be developed once and matured incrementally, and has secured two Pathfinder missions scheduled for 2026. A separate Lab2Space activity offers microgravity research flights through international launch partnerships. Orbit2Orbit won an Australian Technology Competition award in June 2025 and raised a A$1.1 million bridge round in October 2025, reporting further letters of intent from Australian research and industry partners. In July 2026, Credissential Inc. announced a proposed acquisition of Orbit2Orbit Pty Ltd. The company has assembled a group of Australian suppliers spanning propulsion, robotics, power systems and advanced materials.

Portal Space Systems is a spacecraft and propulsion startup headquartered in Bothell, Washington, developing a high-delta-V space mobility platform called Supernova. The vehicle is designed around a solar thermal propulsion system that concentrates sunlight to superheat propellant, targeting orbit-to-orbit maneuvers substantially beyond the reach of conventional chemical smallsat buses. Founded by Jeff Thornburg (formerly chief engineer on SpaceX's Raptor engine program) in 2021, Portal is positioning Supernova for responsive space logistics — rapid orbit changes, inspection, servicing, and rendezvous missions for commercial and national-security customers. The company has received SBIR and Strategic Funding Increase awards from the U.S. Space Force's SpaceWERX and raised private seed and Series A rounds from investors focused on defense technology. Portal's strategy is to bridge the gap between low-impulse electric smallsat buses and larger chemical space tugs, offering months-long maneuvering lifetimes without the complexity of cryogenic chemical propulsion. The company has announced plans for an initial Supernova flight demonstration later in the decade.