Denver-based Lux Aeterna has emerged from stealth mode with $4 million in pre-seed funding to develop a fully reusable satellite, set to launch in 2027. This 200-kilogram Delphi demonstrator will utilize a heat shield and parachute for safe atmospheric reentry and landing. Following its return, the satellite will be refitted with a new payload and relaunched, validating a business model centered on cost reduction and improved sustainability.
Lux Aeterna founder and CEO Brian Taylor emphasizes the industry's reliance on disposable satellites. “While the satellite industry has evolved rapidly, its core infrastructure is still designed to be disposable,” Taylor stated. He highlights the opportunity for reusability, particularly for smaller satellite systems (1-100 satellites). "It’s really driven by launch costs coming down [and] there is a limitation on how cheap you can make a satellite, even if you have all the advantages of economies of scale, you get to the material cost,” he explained. “So the only way to go less than that is reusability, which [SpaceX’s partly reusable] Falcon 9 showed that pretty well.”
This approach offers new mission architectures and economic agility, tying costs directly to orbital time. The flexibility is especially appealing to technology developers for brief space tests and in-space manufacturers. The ability to recover a satellite early also minimizes costs for unsuccessful missions. The Department of Defense has also expressed interest, viewing it as “a new take on tactical response” that mitigates supply chain vulnerabilities.
Unlike other reentry spacecraft, Lux Aeterna's design uses a rigid heat shield as the satellite's structural bus. “Instead of adding a heat shield to an existing satellite, we build the entire satellite components and everything around this main structure, which is the heat shield,” Taylor explained. “One of the keys here is that when you launch it, it looks and feels and acts like a satellite. It’s not a capsule, it’s not a space plane.” This familiar form factor simplifies integration for operators and payload developers. Delphi will launch on a Falcon 9 rideshare mission, with future satellites slightly larger but still compatible with Falcon 9.
The satellite will use onboard propulsion for reentry, and Lux Aeterna is collaborating with the Federal Aviation Administration on flight safety. “The only thing that we’re ready to disclose right now is that we are going to be landing on land,” Taylor confirmed. The company currently employs seven people in a Denver facility. Space Capital led the pre-seed funding round, with participation from Dynamo Ventures, Mission One Capital, Alumni Ventures, Service Provider Capital, and angel investors.