Rocket Lab Readies Photon Spacecraft Ahead of Key LOXSAT Cryogenic Fuel Test Mission

California-based Rocket Lab has completed systems integration for its Photon spacecraft ahead of the upcoming LOXSAT mission with Eta Space and NASA. Designed to showcase in-orbit cryogenic refueling, the system will now complete environmental testing at Rocket Lab’s facility in Long Beach before launching atop an Electron rocket from New Zealand early next year.
Until we can get ultra-efficient, next-generation rocket engines into space, the near-term future of ambitious and deep space missions will involve in-orbit refueling. SpaceX will rely on this technology if it ever wants to get its Starship ready for Artemis 3, but Eta Space is at the forefront of developing these kinds of systems. Now it’s set to test it in early 2026.
The mission will inform the future design of Eta’s planned Cryo-Dock orbiting platform, which will act like a gas station for spacecraft. Designed to be operational by 2030, it would act as a depot that could refuel spacecraft before they traveled to the Moon, Mars, or even further afield.
The first part of making that dream a reality is testing critical systems, and now we’re one step closer to that reality. Rocket Lab’s Photon space bus is fully built and ready for further testing. This mission will be a secondary showcase of Rocket Lab’s end-to-end launch system solution, combining its own Electron rocket with its Photon satellite system, along with guidance, propellant, and power and communication systems.
Eta system shipped the LOXSAT refueling system to Rocket Lab at the end of September, but now the two platforms have been fully integrated and will be tested together ahead of next year’s launch.
Rocket Lab has showcased its capabilities as a launch provider for these kinds of missions in the past. It was a key component in the NASA Capstone mission, which sent a cubesat to the moon as part of NASA’s Gateway program.
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