- NewOrbit confirms it has secured a Q3 2028 launch slot for its first satellite NEO-1
- NEO-1 is the first commercial mission on which any payload developer can fly, test and validate technology in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO), doubling their performance compared to Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
- Japanese Earth observation specialist Genesia is one of three customers to have booked slots, but a limited number remain open
NewOrbit has secured a launch slot for its first satellite, marking a major step towards opening Very Low Earth Orbit to commercial missions. With Europe facing a rocket launcher shortage towards the end of the decade, securing a confirmed launch slot has become increasingly difficult for European companies.
NEO-1, NewOrbit’s first satellite, will launch in Q3 2028 and the launch slot has been secured via the European launch broker RIDE!. It is the first commercial satellite built to sustain operations between 200 and 300 km above Earth, which is two to three times closer to Earth than most conventional satellites.
Sustained operations at these altitudes have historically been extremely difficult because atmospheric drag pulls satellites back towards Earth, atomic oxygen erodes exposed materials and aerodynamic torques can destabilise spacecraft.
Only two missions have ever sustained operations below 300 km: ESA’s GOCE, which held its orbit for more than four and a half years, and JAXA’s Super Low Altitude Test Satellite “Tsubame”, which holds the Guinness World Record for the lowest orbital altitude by an Earth observation satellite at 167.4 km.
NEO-1 is a rideshare mission that can carry multiple payloads to VLEO. The first customer NewOrbit is announcing is Genesia, the Japanese optics specialist that built the telescope with which Tsubame captured images from its record-low altitude of 167.4 km. Two further customers have already booked slots on the mission, and a limited number of payload slots remain available.
Flying closer to Earth lets satellites capture higher-resolution imagery with smaller, cheaper systems: an instrument delivering 50 cm resolution from 500 km would deliver close to 25 cm from NEO-1’s operating orbit, with no redesign and no additional R&D. NewOrbit’s purpose-built satellites and in-house propulsion system are designed to overcome VLEO’s conditions and operate reliably there for five years.
NEO-1 is the first VLEO mission open to external payload developers. Every previous mission at these altitudes flew only its own instruments. NEO-1 gives payload providers and operators a route to VLEO without designing and building their own spacecraft.
The mission responds to growing market demand for lower-cost, high-performing space assets, from sharper imagery and faster revisit to direct-to-device communications from smaller satellites.
The launch announcement follows NewOrbit’s oversubscribed $18.5 million Series A, led by Voyager Ventures.
Norihide Takeyama, CEO, Genesia Corporation, said: “Genesia has long been interested in the commercial potential of VLEO observation technology, building on our heritage from JAXA’s SLATS mission. The NEO-1 satellite is an advanced initiative of the utmost importance to us. Payloads carried by satellites such as NEO-1 can deliver better performance than larger payloads operating at standard altitudes. We are deeply honoured to walk this path alongside NewOrbit, a pioneer and innovative platform provider.”
NewOrbit is also announcing that four senior figures from ESA’s GOCE mission have joined its technical advisory board: Dr Mark Drinkwater, the mission’s scientist; Dr Michael Fehringer, its propulsion manager; Alex Popescu, its systems engineer; and Paolo Ferri, who directed GOCE’s flight operations at ESA.
Anatolii Papulov, CEO and co-founder of NewOrbit, said: “Only two missions in history have stayed in VLEO. Today, the people behind both come together on one mission: the engineers who built and flew GOCE sit on our technical board, and Genesia, whose telescope imaged Earth from Tsubame’s record altitude, joins NEO-1 as our first announced payload partner. That brings an extraordinary concentration of VLEO experience onto one commercial mission, and for the first time it is open for anyone in the industry to fly with.”