Portal Space Systems Signs Contract with SpaceX for Falcon 9 Launch in 2028
Portal Space Systems, a next-generation spacecraft company building vehicles that maneuver rapidly across and between orbital regimes, today announced SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch their Motus Via Sol mission in 2028. Motus Via Sol, meaning “movement with the sun,” references the company’s proprietary FLARE solar thermal propulsion system. This technology, which powers its Supernova spacecraft, will fly for the first time on this mission.
Portal has exclusively partnered with Maverick Space Systems, a San Luis Obispo, CA based launch integrator and provider of industry-leading full stack launch hardware and separation systems. Maverick will optimize the payload stack for Portal’s spacecraft while managing and marketing additional launch capacity for third-party rideshare payloads.
“We planned for a launch market where capacity and timing can’t be taken for granted,” said Jeff Thornburg, CEO and co-founder of Portal Space Systems. “This mission gives us greater control over a critical part of our customers’ timelines. As rideshare availability evolves, we can align launch with mission requirements rather than the other way around.”
Portal’s partnership with Maverick Space Systems maximizes the value of the mission. Maverick, a launch-integration firm whose leadership helped create the CubeSat standard and has launched more than 225 satellites, will handle payload accommodation, integration, and manifest optimization across the stack, from ESPA-class vehicles to “cake-topper” payloads near the top.
Because Portal’s Starburst and Supernova spacecraft maneuver rapidly to their operating orbits after deployment from the launch vehicle, the mission is less constrained by its drop-off point, allowing Motus Via Sol to accommodate rideshare customers with specific destination requirements. Commercial operators interested in ESPA-class or cake-topper capacity can contact either company today.
“This mission creates an extraordinary opportunity for rideshare customers,” said Vidur Kaushish, COO and co-founder of Maverick Space Systems. “We’re designing an optimized payload stack for Portal and bringing additional rideshare payloads to the mission, helping reduce launch costs for all mission partners. This new rideshare model is precisely what the industry needs. Portal’s ability to maneuver on orbit gives us the flexibility to select orbits that are truly valuable to rideshare customers. That’s what makes this strategy work.”
The launch contract is the latest in a deliberate sequence of moves for Portal pairing technical milestones with the capital and infrastructure to deliver them. Since emerging from stealth in 2024, Portal has raised a $17.5 million seed round and a $50 million Series A; advanced its technology through SBIR awards and a $45 million STRATFI; established flight heritage for critical avionics on the Mini-Nova mission; demonstrated FLARE at operational performance in thermal-vacuum conditions; manifested Starburst-1 on SpaceX’s Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission for October 2026; and expanded into a 62,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Bothell, Washington.
Motus Via Sol is the first application of Portal’s launch-access strategy, not a commitment to a single vehicle or launch model. Portal and Maverick are continuing to evaluate dedicated and shared opportunities across current and next-generation launch vehicles, selecting the option that gets each customer operational fastest. The model developed for this mission, built on early integration, broad payload accommodation, and efficient use of surplus capacity, will carry forward to future missions.
“This is bigger than one rocket. We’re not just building assured access to orbit. We’re building assured access to any orbit, on any vehicle that can get our customers where they need to operate,” said Thornburg. “Motus Via Sol is the first proof. It won’t be the last.”