Rendering of the Impulse Space Helios kick stage. Photo: Impulse Space

SES has signed with Impulse Space as the first commercial customer of the Helios kick stage designed to shorten the time it takes satellites to reach operational orbit. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

The two companies announced a multi-launch agreement on Thursday, with the first mission planned for 2027. It will be a dedicated deployment from a medium-lift launcher to Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), and Helios will transfer the payload to Geostationary Orbit (GEO). Impulse Space says Helios will be able to transfer the payload to GEO “within eight hours of launch.”

Impulse Space has in-space mobility offerings and announced development of Helios in early 2024 as a means for GEO satellites to reach the orbit faster, rather than launching on a heavy-lift rocket directly to GEO or spending months in orbit-raising from Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) with onboard propellant. 

SES will not fly on the first Helios mission. The first launch of Helios is targeted for 2026 on a Falcon 9 rocket, Impulse Space confirmed to Via Satellite. The first mission will carry payloads to both GTO and GEO and will include two Mira vehicles — one for the VICTUS SURGO mission, and another for the Impulse Space GEO Express-1 mission.

SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh said the operator is proud of the first dedicated commercial mission for Helios. The agreement has options for additional missions, which the companies said will allow SES “to rapidly and responsively launch satellites to their selected orbit on demand.” 

“At SES, we are firm believers that co-development and collaboration with our partners will help the space industry to evolve and quicken the pace of innovation,” said SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh. “Today, we’re not only partnering with Impulse to bring our satellites faster to orbit, but this will also allow us to extend their lifetime and accelerate service delivery to our customers. We’re proud to become Helios’ first dedicated commercial mission.”