Hardware

Helios kick stage (lunar cruise stage)

Helios is Impulse Space's kick stage: it flies as a payload on a medium-lift rocket and fires its engine after deployment in low Earth orbit (LEO) to carry payloads to their final orbit, up to 4,000 kg to geostationary orbit (GEO) in under 24 hours. In Impulse's lunar plan Helios is the cruise stage that carries the Impulse lunar lander to low lunar orbit within one week, and it is in integrated testing ahead of first flights beginning in 2027.