Momentus announced on October 9th that it has secured two new contracts with NASA, totaling $7.6 million. These contracts involve transporting payloads on its Vigoride spacecraft to facilitate testing of in-space manufacturing techniques and an advanced propulsion system.
According to the company, one contract, valued at $5.1 million, is under NASA’s Flight Opportunities program. It will support the Commercial Orbital System for Microgravity In-Space Crystallization (COSMIC) demonstration. This project will explore the feasibility of producing semiconductor crystals in a microgravity environment and subsequently returning them to Earth.
Momentus’ chief executive, John Rood, explained to SpaceNews that the mission will involve conducting the crystal growth experiment in a higher orbit before maneuvering the spacecraft to a lower orbit. A reentry capsule will then be deployed from the spacecraft to safely return the material to Earth. "We are very pleased to be playing major roles on programs at the forefront of space technology," Rood said.
COSMIC was selected as a winner of NASA’s TechLeap Prize Space Technology Payload Challenge, which provides funding and flight opportunities for innovative technology development. The payload was developed by startup Astral Materials in collaboration with SpaceWorks Engineering, who are providing the reentry system.
The second contract, worth $2.5 million, will support the flight of Juno Propulsion’s rotating detonation rocket engine, another TechLeap Prize winner. This advanced propulsion system aims to achieve higher efficiency than conventional engines. The version being tested on Vigoride is optimized for in-space propulsion, utilizing nitrous oxide and ethane propellants.
Both payloads are scheduled to fly on the same Vigoride spacecraft, alongside payloads from other customers. Rood anticipates the launch will occur no earlier than October 2026. This follows the company’s next Vigoride mission, scheduled for a SpaceX Transporter rideshare launch in February, whose main customer will be DARPA’s Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials, and Mass-efficient Design, or NOM4D, program. “Candidly, that part of the market has not developed as much as people thought, say, five years ago,” Rood said during a panel at World Space Business Week in September.
These two missions mark Momentus's first since 2023, after a period of financial constraints that led to flight delays. The company has since secured new funding to continue operations. “We are very pleased to be playing major roles on programs at the forefront of space technology,” Rood added.