While Amazon set the global standard with same-day delivery, Impulse Space is proposing a comparable approach for satellites heading to geostationary orbit, approximately 22,000 miles above the planet. Their goal is to shrink the usually months-long journey into just hours.
Within just one week, the in-space propulsion company revealed three separate agreements designed to open up geostationary orbit (GEO) for both commercial and military customers. These include a demonstration mission with defense firm Anduril scheduled for 2026, a transport partnership with GEO communications company Astranis in 2027, and a multi-launch contract to take Infinite Orbits’ servicing satellites to GEO starting that same year.
Tom Mueller, who spent almost 20 years heading propulsion at SpaceX and was responsible for the Merlin and Raptor engines, established Impulse in 2021. After leaving SpaceX in 2020, he created Impulse to develop in-space logistics services, focusing on rapid delivery solutions in low Earth orbit (LEO)—which ranges from about 100 to 1,200 miles above the surface—and high-speed satellite transport to GEO.
All of these missions rely on Helios, Impulse’s methane-oxygen powered kick stage. Essentially, a kick stage is a compact rocket system that sits atop a larger launch vehicle and then uses its own engine—in this case, the powerful Deneb engine—to push spacecraft to their intended orbits.
Helios is designed to act as an “express courier,” transporting payloads from LEO to higher orbits within the same day. If it operates as intended, commercial providers could access higher altitudes more rapidly, and the Department of Defense could gain enhanced maneuverability in an increasingly competitive orbital environment.
Reaching and operating in GEO is no easy feat. Satellites must traverse the high-radiation Van Allen belts—areas dense with charged particles held by Earth's magnetic field—cope with the delays of long-distance communications, and keep a stable position in orbit.
The collaboration between Anduril and Impulse could be particularly profitable. Together, they plan to develop a demonstration satellite capable of rendezvous and proximity operations—a function that enables spacecraft to approach and inspect other objects in orbit. The Space Force has highlighted this as vital for monitoring space activity and deterrence.
Impulse will provide the spacecraft—named Mira, which first launched last year—while Anduril will contribute a mission data processor, a long-wave infrared camera, and other software-driven payloads for tracking and precise navigation.
For this demonstration, Helios will bring the spacecraft to GEO in under 24 hours. The mission will then attempt to capture imagery of nearby space objects, analyze the data, and autonomously perform detailed maneuvers to observe those objects.
U.S. officials frequently refer to the objective as “maneuvering without regret”—the capacity to reposition satellites as needed without endangering the mission or squandering precious fuel.
On the commercial front, Astranis has committed to a 2027 mission where its MicroGEO satellites will reach low Earth orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 and then be transferred to geostationary orbit by Helios in under a day. This rapid deployment is highly advantageous for Astranis, as it lets them significantly shorten the wait time for customers eager to access satellite-based internet services.
Impulse also inked a multi-launch deal with France-based Infinite Orbits to transport a number of satellite servicing spacecraft to GEO using a ride-share program called Caravan. According to Impulse, Caravan allows multiple smaller satellites to be delivered together, similar to SpaceX’s ride-share model that lets clients split launch expenses. The initial Caravan mission, Impulse reported, is already fully booked for 2026.
In the past few years, most of the dramatic expansion in the space sector has centered on LEO, with operators favoring smaller, more cost-effective satellites for communications and remote sensing. However, if Impulse’s vision comes to fruition, the next wave of industry growth could shift its focus to GEO.
