From Orbit to Runway and Back: Lux Aeterna’s Delphi Platform and the Rise of Fully Reusable Satellites
Delphi is Lux Aeterna’s flagship fully reusable satellite bus designed to launch, operate in orbit, return to Earth, be refurbished, and relaunched. The Delphi demonstrator weighs about 200 kg and will carry a customer payload to low Earth orbit before re-entering and landing for recovery. Lux Aeterna has raised $4 million in pre-seed funding, led by Space Capital, to develop Delphi. A demonstration mission is planned for early 2027, launched as a rideshare on SpaceX’s Falcon 9. Delphi’s heat shield is integral to its structure, with the shield forming the main load-bearing body to survive multiple reentries. The design features