TMCnet News
Muon Space Unveils Condor-Ultra, Starship-Class Spacecraft Platform Built for ScaleEngineered for constellations of hundreds to thousands of satellites, Condor-Ultra brings the power, stackability, and scale that next-generation communications, sensing, and orbital compute missions demand. MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Muon Space, the Mission Foundry for high-performance satellite constellations, today unveiled Condor-Ultra, its newest spacecraft platform developed for high-power, networked constellations of hundreds to thousands of satellites. Optimized for stackable mass-deployment from SpaceX's Starship, Condor-Ultra anchors communications, sensing and data-center class compute missions with the most demanding power, aperture and data requirements at unprecedented scale and unit economics. Configurations for today's medium-lift launch vehicles, including Falcon 9 and Rocket Lab's Neutron, are also available. The announcement marks another milestone in Muon's rapid product cadence: less than a year after unveiling its XL platform, the company is bringing the Ultra platform to market. Condor-Ultra features 20kW power, >18m2 nadir payload area, Starlink 25Gbps network connectivity, Muon's groundbreaking Starlight propulsion, and the demonstrated reliability, availability and performance Muon's Mission Foundry is known for. The first Condor-Ultra pathfinder is slated for delivery in 2028. "The most compelling space infrastructure missions of the next decade – from global communications networks to scaled remote sensing to distributed orbital compute – require a managed and integrated platform that is powerful, stackable, and built to scale cost effectively. Condor-Ultra delivers exactly that, and it does it on the strong foundation of a flight-proven satellite, operations, data, and software stack our customers already trust," said Jonny Dyer, CEO of Muon Space. Orbital Data Centers Condor-Ultra's power, thermal, and networking architecture is designed from the ground up to meet the unique demands of orital data centers – scalable power generation, high-density compute workloads, and reliable autonomous mission, network, and data operations at constellation scale. With higher-powered variants up to 100 kW, Condor-Ultra is the foundation for large-scale orbital compute and networking. The platform is architected to integrate next-generation AI inference hardware, including the NVIDIA Space-1 Vera Rubin Module – purpose-built for AI inferencing in space, with the Rubin GPU delivering up to 25 times the AI compute performance of the H100 for orbital workloads. Through feasibility work with hyperscalers on large-scale AI infrastructure in orbit, Muon has developed deep expertise in the technical and operational requirements of next-generation orbital data centers – expertise that directly informs Condor-Ultra's architecture and design priorities. Deep Vertical Integration Consistent with its mission-optimization strategy, Muon is extending its vertical integration with Condor-Ultra by internalizing all critical subsystems and components. This continues the approach Muon pioneered with avionics, propulsion, communications, GNC, flight software and networking: by controlling more of the spacecraft stack, Muon optimizes at the system level for mission performance, strengthens quality control and deterministic delivery, and reduces recurring costs. For operators with aggressive deployment economics, this level of integration is not a differentiator – it is a requirement. Key Platform Capabilities
About Muon Space Muon Space is the Mission Foundry, designing, building, and operating high-performance satellite constellations for defense, civil, and commercial customers. Founded in 2021, the company has engineered every layer: spacecraft, instruments, software, and operations, all designed to work together from simulation to orbit. With advanced production facilities in Silicon Valley and multiple constellations already on orbit, Muon delivers in months, not years. For more information, visit: https://www.muonspace.com/.
SOURCE Muon Space
|
