Debra Werner

 WASHINGTON – Momentus announced an agreement March 11 to provide Vigoride space tug customers with on-demand connectivity through a partnership with Solstar Space.

Momentus plans to perform the first on-orbit demonstration in early 2026 of Solstar’s Deke Space Communicator, a narrowband data-relay transceiver designed to offer persistent communication links between satellites and payload operators on the ground as well as between spacecraft.  

“It’s going to provide an interesting capability, both for Momentus as well as for customers that fly with us to be able to communicate on demand,” Momentus CEO John Rood told SpaceNews.

On-demand communications will be particularly helpful, Rood said, for mission operators investigating or resolving anomalies, or conducting proximity operations.

While Momentus has designed “a lot of autonomy into proximity operations, if you start to have more continuous communications coverage, like Solstar provides, this really opens up the boundaries,” Rood said.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is the anchor customer for the Vigoride flight scheduled to launch in February 2026. Momentus will perform robotic assembly of a large antenna-like structure in low-Earth orbit under a $3.5 million award for phase 3 of the Novel Orbital and Manufacturing, Materials, and Mass-efficient Design (NOM4D) program.

Sharing the Vigoride bus will be a multispectral rendezvous and proximity operations demonstration for AFWERX.

“We’ll release a small satellite. Then, we’ll get close and observe it with infrared, lidar and optical sensors,” Rood said.

The flight also will accomodate commercial customers, including some who were scheduled to fly on a 2024 Vigoride flight.

Deke Space Communicator

Through the Vigoride flight, “we’re going to be able to test all aspects of the Deke Space Communicator and add value to Momentus, our initial customer for this,” Brian Barnett, Solstar founder and CEO, told SpaceNews. “We’re going to test the local area Wi-Fi and provide the spacecraft with a satellite-internet connection in low-Earth orbit. The Deke provides 24/7, two-way connectivity to the desktop.”

This will be the first test of Solstar’s technology in low-Earth orbit. Solstar demonstrated its Wi-Fi technology on two Blue Origin New Shepard suborbital capsules and an Up Aerospace rocket.

Satellite and payload operators are no longer satisfied with intermittent communications, Barnett said, because they want the ability to task instruments and receive data instantaneously.

Beyond the February flight, Momentus and Solstar are exploring opportunities to offer additional hosted-payload and data-relay services.

Companies Plan to Demonstrate Wi-Fi Connectivity in 2026 on SpaceX Rideshare Launch

SAN JOSE, Calif. – March 11, 2025 – Momentus Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTS) (“Momentus”), a U.S. commercial space company offering satellite buses, technologies, transportation, and other in-space infrastructure services, and Solstar Space Company (“Solstar”), a U.S. space communications company making on-orbit WiFi communications available, are pleased to announce the signing of a strategic partnership agreement. Momentus and Solstar Space will collaborate to make new ways of operating in space possible by enabling our customers to have on-demand connectivity with their systems in space.

This connectivity will allow customers to use commercial satellite constellations to communicate on-demand with systems aboard spacecraft in orbit, instead of relying on costly ground communications services provided by specialized vendors that only provide periodic burst communications when their spacecraft passes over a ground station. The type of connectivity that Momentus and Solstar plan to provide will allow space system operators to communicate with their systems on-orbit the same way they use Wi-Fi on Earth to communicate continuously and on-demand.

Momentus and Solstar will conduct the first on-orbit demonstration of Solstar’s Deke Space Communicator in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) on a mission that will be launched on an upcoming SpaceX Transporter rideshare as soon as early 2026. The Deke Space Communicator will provide on-demand Wi-Fi and narrowband Internet connectivity for Momentus and its customers.

Through our partnership, our companies plan to accelerate development and demonstration of our technologies and substantially improve our ability to bring new capabilities to market for commercial and government customers.

This strategic partnership leverages the strengths and expertise of both companies and aims to make it possible for our customers to utilize on-demand, persistent, and cost-effective communication with space systems across a variety of mission types and operational orbits. Under the terms of the agreement, Momentus and Solstar will work closely and pursue joint opportunities in hosted payload services and space data relay communications systems.

“Our strategic partnership builds on the flight-proven capabilities that Momentus has for hosted payloads and satellite buses and leverages the innovative on-orbit WiFi and Internet connectivity that Solstar is developing,” said John Rood, CEO of Momentus Space. “By blending our technological core competencies and the talents of our teams, we can bring a new capability to our customers for on-demand communication to operate space systems on-orbit like we have come to use daily on Earth.”

“This strategic partnership marks a significant milestone for both companies,” said Brian Barnett, Founder and CEO of Solstar. “By collaborating with Momentus, we are poised to accelerate our growth and bring new, transformative solutions to the market. Our Deke Space Communicator, along with its onboard WiFi capabilities, is uniquely positioned to support missions like the planned Momentus launch where reliable connectivity to onboard spacecraft communications systems is important to successful mission completion. We look forward to a successful partnership that will create value for our respective customers and stakeholders.”

About Momentus Inc.
Momentus is a U.S. commercial space company that offers commercial satellite buses and in-space infrastructure services including in-space transportation, hosted payloads, and other in-orbit services.

About Solstar Space Company
Solstar Space is the leading commercial space-based connectivity company pioneering the use of Space WiFi for all types of on-orbit assets including satellites, space stations, launch vehicles, and more. We provide a secure internet connection between spacecraft and Earth-based payload managers and satellite operators, and enable communications for crewed missions in sub-orbit, LEO, cis-lunar, and lunar surface operations.

Our fast, reliable services, space-tested routers, WiFi access points and hotspots, and space-based satellite data relays are being developed to deliver on-orbit connectivity and are supported by 24/7 customer care. These devices are installed on satellites and spacecraft prior to launch to keep crew, spacecraft, and Earth-based satellite operations teams connected. Visit https://www.solstarspace.com.

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Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain statements which may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expected filing of the Company’s Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and its management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future, projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, and are not guarantees of future performance. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of Momentus’ control. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to risks and uncertainties included under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed by the Company on June 6, 2024, as amended by that certain Annual Report on Form 10-K/A filed by the Company on September 16, 2024, as such factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with the Commission, accessible on the Commission’s website at http://www.sec.gov and the Investor Relations section of our website at investors.momentus.space. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and, except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Momentus Contact:
Media Inquiries | press@momentus.space

Investor Inquiries | investors@momentus.space

Business Inquiries | sales@momentus.space

Solstar Contact:
Media Inquiries | Lisa Dreher | lisa@solstarspace.com | +1 425-442-1301
Investor Inquiries | Brian Barnett | barnett@solstarspace.com | +1 505-389-2299
Business Inquiries | Brian Barnett | barnett@solstarspace.com | +1 505-389-2299