{"id":665327,"date":"2026-11-03T06:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T06:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/665327\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T06:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T06:22:16","slug":"exclusive-stellar-alpina-unveils-monarch-orbiter-and-morpho-lunar-lander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/665327\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Stellar Alpina Unveils Monarch Orbiter and Morpho Lunar Lander"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stellar Alpina is breaking free from its cocoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Swiss startup is unveiling two new vehicles: a high-performance orbiter, Monarch, and a lunar lander, Morpho.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stellar Alpina <a href=\"https:\/\/payloadspace.com\/exclusive-stellar-alpina-raises-4-5m-to-build-rotating-detonation-engines\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">began as a propulsion startup<\/a> focused on building rotating detonation rocket engines (RDREs). However, the company has pivoted to building vehicles that can actually put the engines\u2019 efficiency gains to work.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wingspan: Stellar Alpina cofounder Victor Elliesen called Monarch the \u201cSwiss Army knife of orbital operations,\u201d built for high-delta-V missions ranging from in-space transport to responsive defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Monarch is designed for up to 6,000 m\/s of delta-V, 1,000 kg of wet mass, and 200 kg of payload.\u00a0Its engines are being developed to run on hydrogen peroxide and propane, which Elliesen called \u201cgreen, but also storable\u201d propellants.The team is targeting an in-orbit demo by 2029, depending on launch availability.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The spacecraft is also designed to be launcher-agnostic. Elliesen said that Monarch could hitch a ride on a European microlauncher\u2014and still reach GEO.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eventually, Stellar Alpina wants to run Monarch as a service. \u201cWe definitely want to be able to operate our own fleet of satellites and also resell the mobility-as-a-service aspect, where we could think of business models like a pricing based on the delta-V used,\u201d Elliesen told Payload.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meta-morpho-sis: Stellar Alpina released fewer details about its lunar lander, Morpho, which will use an upgraded version of Monarch\u2019s architecture. Its timeline depends on how Monarch does in the market.<\/p>\n<p>Morpho is designed to deliver up to 50 kg of payload to the Moon.The vehicle is built to accommodate smaller, more flexible missions across the lunar surface.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elliesen said that beyond ESA\u2019s Argonaut lander, Europe has no clear commitment to commercial exploration on the lunar surface. He sees Morpho as a smaller complement to Argonaut.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEurope hasn\u2019t established a CLPS program yet,\u201d Elliesen said, referring to NASA\u2019s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. \u201cWith the developments around Moon Base and on how the roadmaps are aligning, we do see more and more demand emerging.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chrysalis: Stellar Alpina isn\u2019t the only company pairing RDREs with Moon-bound vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>Astrobotic, which was <a href=\"https:\/\/payloadspace.com\/voyager-will-acquire-astrobotic\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">acquired<\/a> by Voyager Technologies in July, also plans to bolt RDREs onto its Griffin lunar lander.Astrobotic also announced in April it had <a href=\"https:\/\/payloadspace.com\/astrobotic-hotfires-engine-that-could-power-moon-missions\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">hotfired its own RDRE<\/a> for a record 300 seconds.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Neither Astrobotic nor Stellar Alpina has flown an RDRE yet. Stellar Alpina is still in the prototyping phase, with 150+ engine tests under its wing. Next up for Stellar Alpina is a water-cooled engine to tackle one of the tech\u2019s biggest hurdles\u2014keeping it cool \u201cso it doesn\u2019t melt itself,\u201d Elliesen said.<\/p>\n<p> Related Stories<\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"post-thumbnail\" href=\"https:\/\/payloadspace.com\/hydrosat-unveils-new-high-res-mwir-thermal-capability\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"285\" height=\"190\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Nyktos-04-285x190.png\" class=\"attachment-grid-thumbnail size-grid-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Hydrosat Unveils New High-Res MWIR Thermal Capability\" decoding=\"async\"  \/> <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hydrosat is zooming in on the thermal EO market.<\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"post-thumbnail\" href=\"https:\/\/payloadspace.com\/northwood-space-raises-375m-series-c-at-2b-valuation\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> <img width=\"253\" height=\"190\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/261026_Portals-at-Dusk-253x190.jpg\" class=\"attachment-grid-thumbnail size-grid-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Northwood Space Raises $375M Series C at $2B Valuation\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/> <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Northwood Space is attempting to build the world\u2019s largest ground-station network, and now it has a massive pool of capital to fund its buildout.<\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"post-thumbnail\" href=\"https:\/\/payloadspace.com\/seraphim-space-launches-space-academy\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> <img width=\"285\" height=\"190\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Seraphim2084-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-grid-thumbnail size-grid-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Seraphim Space Launches Space Academy\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/> <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thinking of going back to school? Seraphim Space is taking applications.<\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"post-thumbnail\" href=\"https:\/\/payloadspace.com\/exclusive-rendezvous-robotics-raises-20m-to-develop-self-assembling-spacecraft\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> <img width=\"304\" height=\"171\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/hero-304x171.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-grid-thumbnail size-grid-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Exclusive: Rendezvous Robotics Raises $20M to Develop Self-Assembling Spacecraft\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/> <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Rendezvous Robotics is developing technology to allow future satellites to launch in pieces that can self-assemble in space.<\/p>\n<p> More Stories<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"948\" height=\"632\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Nyktos-04-948x632.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"A rendering of Nykt\u00f2s. Image: Hydrosat\" decoding=\"async\"  \/>A rendering of Nykt\u00f2s. Image: Hydrosat<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hydrosat is zooming in on the thermal EO market.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, the company unveiled a new thermal mid-wave infrared (MWIR) program, called Nykt\u00f2s, which is designed to capture high-resolution imagery to complement the company\u2019s lower-res, always-on, wide-swath imagery gathered through its planned Osiris constellation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWith Osiris and Nykt\u00f2s, we have our own tip and cue capability,\u201d CEO Pieter Fossel told Payload. \u201cIt\u2019s really a family of products, or almost a Hydrosat ecosystem of products\u2026It\u2019s like having your iPhone and your MacBook. They do different things, but it can be nice to have two products from the same family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/payloadspace.com\/hydrosat-unveils-new-high-res-mwir-thermal-capability\/\" class=\"keep-reading-link\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Keep reading<\/a><\/p>\n<p> Load More<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stellar Alpina is breaking free from its cocoon.\u00a0 The Swiss startup is unveiling two new vehicles: a high-performance&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[85,46,141,145,299490],"class_list":["post-665327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science","tag-space","tag-stellar-alpina"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}