A bold milestone for D-Orbit: two new orbital transportation missions lift the company past 200 delivered payloads.
D-Orbit, a leading global name in space logistics and orbital transport, launched a pair of missions using the ION Satellite Carrier. These flights mark the 20th and 21st commercial deployments of the ION transfer vehicle and push the company beyond the 200-payload milestone.
Titled We Need More Space and Ride With Me, the twin missions flew as part of SpaceX’s Transporter-15 rideshare from Vandenberg Space Force Base on November 28, 2025. After a lift from Space Launch Complex 4E at 10:44 a.m. Pacific Time, the ION SCV Stellar Stephanus and ION SCV Galactic Georgius were released into a sun-synchronous orbit at about 510 kilometers altitude. There, they will oversee precise deployment and hosted operations for a varied manifest of commercial, academic, and research payloads.
The missions carry satellites and hosted experiments spanning Earth observation, Internet of Things connectivity, optical inter-satellite links, advanced propulsion, and in-orbit servicing and memorial services. This lineup highlights how small satellites and orbital transfer vehicles are enabling an expanding array of applications.
Among the payloads is AI-eXpress 1 Plus (AIX-1+), the third satellite in Planetek’s AI-eXpress program. This platform merges artificial intelligence and blockchain to enhance satellite responsiveness, on-orbit data processing, and low-latency information delivery within a broader satellite-as-a-service framework.
Another notable asset is Foresail-1 prime, a Finnish 3U CubeSat developed by Aalto University as part of Finland’s Centre of Excellence in Research of Sustainable Space. It carries a particle telescope to study radiation and a plasma brake experiment that demonstrates a propellant-free Coulomb-drag deorbiting method, aimed at greener operations in low Earth orbit.
Additional passengers include Stellar Project’s LaserCube Compact optical inter-satellite link demonstrators supporting Italy’s IRIDE constellation program, multiple Lacuna Space IoT satellites built on Spire Global platforms, further Spire LEMUR-2 spacecraft to replenish a multipurpose constellation, Spaceium’s MS-1 robotic refueling actuator demonstrator, Pale Blue’s PBI water ion thruster, and StardustMe’s SD-3 memorial payload, which will keep cremated remains attached to the ION vehicle until reentry.
D-Orbit’s mission control team is proceeding with the Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) to commission the vehicles and prepare for targeted deployments and hosted operations. This effort further cements the ION platform’s role as a flexible hub for in-orbit logistics and experimentation.
Related links
D-Orbit S.p.A. website: https://www.dorbit.space/
Space Technology News — Applications and Research: https://www.spacemart.com/techspace.html
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