YOUR PAYLOAD.
LOW ORBIT.
ON TIME.
Dedicated small-lift launches for satellites up to 320 kg, on a manifest that flies when we say it flies. Scroll to ride the ascent from pad to orbit.
Nine engines, one long orange line.
Kestrel-9 lights at dawn because the morning air over the Pacific is calm and dense. Hold-downs release at ninety percent thrust, and the stack commits to the sky it was built for. A minute later it shoulders through max-q, the hardest shove the air can give it, and the ride turns smooth.
The first stage lets go.
Main engines cut, the interstage blooms white for an instant, and the empty booster tips away toward the Pacific. Above it: one vacuum engine and seven more minutes of work. From the ground it looks effortless. In the bunker, nobody breathes.
Second stage cuts off into silence.
Main engine cut-off, a minute of coast, then the kick stage circularizes at five hundred kilometers. Payload separation is the quietest milestone in launch - and the only one customers remember.
Pad to orbit,
ten minutes.
Kestrel-9
in numbers.
A two-stage small-lift vehicle with a restartable kick stage, built for frequent, boring, on-time launches. Boring is the product.
Kerosene first and second stages, plus a pressure-fed kick stage for precise orbit insertion and multi-drop rideshare.
Sized for one pad crew of nine and a 72-hour turnaround between campaigns.
To 500 km sun-synchronous orbit. 480 kg to a 45-degree mid-inclination drop.
Nine gas-generator engines on stage one, one vacuum-optimized on stage two, one kick motor.
Dynamic envelope fits two ESPA-class satellites or one dedicated primary plus hosted payloads.
One window per month from Kodiak, weather permitting. Range time is reserved a year out.
Flight
manifest.
Four confirmed campaigns, two with rideshare berths still open. Dates hold unless the range says otherwise. Fictional vehicle and manifest - flights, dates and availability are sample content.
| Window | Mission | Orbit | Payload | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2026 | FOURTEEN · Polar Eyes | 500 km SSO | 2× imaging sats | Fully booked |
| Jan 2027 | FIFTEEN · Tidewatch | 550 km SSO | Ocean-color constellation | Rideshare open |
| Mar 2027 | SIXTEEN · Campus One | 400 km / 51.6° | University cubesats | Rideshare open |
| May 2027 | SEVENTEEN · Nightingale | 600 km dawn-dusk | Dedicated, unnamed | Fully booked |
Launch
pricing.
One price per kilogram, published, no phone-tag quotes. Insurance and range fees included. Sample pricing - demo content; no real launches or contracts are offered.
Share a fairing with up to five other payloads on our monthly SSO run.
- From 1 kg, ESPA or cubesat
- Monthly cadence, published windows
- Deployment sequencing included
The whole vehicle, your orbit, your schedule within the manifest year.
- Up to 320 kg to SSO
- Custom inclination & LTAN
- Reflight guarantee included
Six subsidized berths a year for accredited university cubesat teams.
- 1U to 6U form factors
- Mentored integration week
- Application required
Window alerts
One email when a manifest date moves or a rideshare berth opens. Nothing else, ever. Demo form - nothing is sent or stored.