FIRST MISSION
UPDATE: PHOENIX 1
PROTOFLIGHT
Re-entry
Trajectory
Change
Press Release
Our inaugural launch of our PHOENIX 1 re-entry capsule is right around the corner! As we are launching soon aboard the Bandwagon-3 rideshare mission with SpaceX, we wanted to share an update about our mission parameters and a new mission segment we designed in the past few weeks leading to launch day. Every day is becoming exciting for us here at ATMOS.
As stated before, we are looking towards achieving the following mission objectives on our first test:
↗ Mission Objective 01: Collect in-flight data from the capsule and sub-components in orbit.
↗ Mission Objective 02: Gather scientific data from our customer payloads operating in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
↗ Mission Objective 03: Collect data on the deployment and stabilization of the Inflatable Heat Shield during atmospheric re-entry.
With this mission, ATMOS will be the first private company in European history to conduct re-entry from space. After its de-orbit burn, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 second stage will deploy PHOENIX 1 before reentering the Earth’s atmosphere.
Initially, our capsule was set to follow a return trajectory designed to pass over designated ground stations in Africa and Mauritius, before splashing down in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast of La Réunion. We had set up ground stations along this path to ensure continuous data downlink from our heat shield sensors and onboard payloads – data essential for advancing PHOENIX’s development.
With a recent update in the overall mission design, our flight path angle and return trajectory has changed, so we went back to the drawing board to quickly adapt, keeping our Mission Objectives in focus.
Mission Parameter A: Changed Return Trajectory
New ground stations identified and set up!
The new flight path will have PHOENIX 1 initiate its de-orbit path over Los Angeles, CA, crossing over Colombia, and continuing over Cuiabá in central Brazil. Following this path, our vehicle will fly over South America before reentering Earth’s atmosphere at the EIP (Entry Interface Point), and shortly thereafter splashing down approximately 2,000 km off the coast of Brazil in the Atlantic Ocean.
In order to accommodate this new reentry and descent corridor, our team put in relentless efforts and successfully identified and set up suitable ground stations to establish communication with our capsule for critical downlink within just a few weeks.
Depiction of PHOENIX 1 orbital and re-entry trajectory until splashdown
Introducing a New Mission Element: An Air-to-air reconnaissance mission to establish contact with our capsule.
We expect to lose traditional communication during our reentry phase due to its location this far over the Atlantic Ocean. To address this, we have formed an agile team of specialists working closely with our Guidance, Navigation, Control (GNC) crew to develop an innovative, albeit untested, Air-to-Air recon mission. In this approach, we will chase PHOENIX with a chartered aircraft equipped with a mobile satellite terminal from its EIP (at roughly 120 km altitude) through the plasma blackout phase.
And here’s how: Once deployment of PHOENIX is confirmed, the ATMOS Mission Control team will receive and pass on current trajectory data to our GNC team, who will quickly calculate an exact flight path to share with our airborne recon team in the chase plane, who will be on their way to meet and follow PHOENIX just as it enters Earth’s atmosphere and continues its descent.
We added this experimental new chapter to our mission plan with the aim to visually monitor and confirm the status of our capsule while attempting to re-establish a data link after plasma blackout to recover the most valuable flight data for further heat shield analysis and the subsequent vehicle development of PHOENIX 2 – expected to launch in 2026. PHOENIX 2 will carry its own propulsion system on board, allowing us to independently determine the moment of re-entry as well as our return trajectory and angle.
Observing the capsule at re-entry will not only deliver valuable insights, but it will also most likely be a pretty cool show, for sure! Our team is already on their way to Brazil at the moment we are sharing this update with you.
Flight profile depicting the calculated altitude during PHOENIX 1 descent
Overview of different re-entry path angles
Mission Parameter B: Increased Flight Path Angle
In addition to these updated parameters, we are also expecting a steeper flight path angle, resulting in a higher vertical re-entry velocity, which introduces higher thermal and aerodynamic loads to our capsule’s re-entry scenario. Under these conditions, there is a high probability that the increased thermal stress and aerodynamic forces may affect the capsule structure and heat shield, but all flight data we will receive during this inaugural flight will inform our system analysis and optimization for PHOENIX 2.
Conclusion: PHOENIX 1 is Ready for Launch
Our team remains determined and is relentlessly working to fine-tune every detail up until launch day. This mission will be hard, and we look forward to it.
These days, our team continues working on the final preparations for launch. Teams have completed integrating PHOENIX 1 with the launch vehicle in collaboration with our integration partner, Exolaunch, and updating our software.
We have invested tremendous effort over the past 12 months to address all these challenges head-on. At this point, we can already report that we have reached a mission milestone: our team has proven its ability and dedication to plan for and react to the ever-changing, highly complex environment of space missions.
Go PHOENIX!
Your team at ATMOS Space Cargo
P.S. We will keep you updated on our launch date!