D-Orbit launches dual orbital transportation missions, passes 200-payload milestone

by Erica Marchand
Paris, France (SPX) Dec 12, 2025
D-Orbit, a global leader in space logistics and orbital transportation, has launched two new orbital transportation missions using its ION Satellite Carrier, pushing the company past the milestone of 200 payloads delivered to orbit.

The twin missions, named We Need More Space and Ride With Me, represent the 20th and 21st commercial flights of the ION orbital transfer vehicle and flew as part of SpaceX's Transporter-15 rideshare launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base on November 28, 2025.

After liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4E at 10:44 a.m. Pacific Time, the ION SCV Stellar Stephanus and ION SCV Galactic Georgius vehicles were deployed into a Sun-synchronous orbit at roughly 510 kilometers altitude, where they will begin precision deployment and hosting operations for a diverse manifest of commercial, institutional, and research payloads.

The missions carry satellites and hosted payloads spanning Earth observation, Internet of Things connectivity, optical inter-satellite links, advanced propulsion, and in-orbit servicing and memorial services, reflecting the growing breadth of applications enabled by small satellites and orbital transfer vehicles.

Among the payloads is AI-eXpress 1 Plus (AIX-1+), the third satellite in Planetek's AI-eXpress program, which combines artificial intelligence and blockchain in space to improve satellite responsiveness, on-orbit data processing, and low-latency information delivery as part of a broader "satellite-as-a-service" model.

The manifest also includes Foresail-1 prime, a Finnish 3U CubeSat built by Aalto University within the country's Centre of Excellence in Research of Sustainable Space; it carries a particle telescope to study radiation and a plasma brake experiment to demonstrate a propellant-free Coulomb-drag deorbiting technology aimed at more sustainable operations in low Earth orbit.

Other passengers feature Stellar Project's LaserCube Compact optical inter-satellite link demonstrators in support of Italy's IRIDE constellation program, multiple Lacuna Space IoT satellites built on Spire Global platforms, additional Spire LEMUR-2 spacecraft to replenish its multipurpose constellation, Spaceium's MS-1 robotic refueling actuator demonstrator, Pale Blue's PBI water ion thruster, and StardustMe's SD-3 memorial payload of cremated remains capsules that will remain attached to the ION vehicle until reentry.

D-Orbit's mission control team is now executing the Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) to commission the vehicles and prepare for targeted deployments and hosted operations, further cementing the ION platform's role as a flexible in-orbit logistics and experimentation hub.