LOXSAT will test 11 cryogenic fluid management technologies on a nine‑month mission to inform the development of in‑space propellant depots that could refuel spacecraft en route to the Moon, Mars, or other destinations.

The LOXSAT team brings together engineers from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Glenn Research Center, and Kennedy Space Center, and is part of the Space Technology Mission Directorate’s cryogenic fluid management portfolio, which includes more than 20 technology development efforts.

NASA and Eta Space are collaborating on LOXSAT, an in‑orbit technology demonstration designed to advance cryogenic fluid management for future deep‑space missions.

More information is available through NASA’s official channels and the short URL go.nasa.gov.

The demonstrations target key microgravity challenges for cryogenic propellants, including reducing boiloff, transferring propellants, maintaining tank pressure, and accurately gauging propellant quantity.

LOXSAT will launch aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula, with liftoff no earlier than mid‑July, into low Earth orbit.

Eta Space built the LOXSAT payload and it will ride on a Rocket Lab Photon satellite bus, launched from Launch Complex 1 on Mahia Peninsula.

Eta Space was among 14 U.S. organizations awarded a combined $370 million in 2020 to develop cryogenic fluid management technologies.

Central to LOXSAT is LOX storage at roughly −183°C to support hydrolox propulsion, where liquid hydrogen combines with liquid oxygen to produce propulsion with water as the only byproduct.

Propellant accounts for over 90% of a rocket’s launch mass but typically less than 1% of total mission cost, highlighting the impact of efficient cryogenic systems.

NASA is also pursuing CryoFILL, an initiative to produce cryogenic fuels on the Moon for future missions.

Eta Space developed LOXSAT under NASA’s Tipping Point program, which funds technologies to support sustained lunar operations under the Artemis plan by 2030.