Orbital and Reflex Aerospace Partner to Scale 100,000-Satellite Constellation

Los Angeles-based Orbital, a developer of orbital data center constellations, has selected Reflex Aerospace, a German satellite manufacturer, as its spacecraft platform partner and entered into a development agreement for its planned orbital data center constellation. The agreement marks Reflex Aerospace’s first customer in the United States and the beginning of a strategic collaboration to develop next-generation computing infrastructure in orbit.

“Reflex is exactly the partner we need to build data centers in orbit. Orbital data centers demand complex avionics, precision control of very large structures and reliability over years in orbit, and Reflex’s proven satellite bus platform gives us a foundation we can build on fast,” said Euwyn Poon, founder and chief executive of Orbital, in a statement.

Under the agreement, Reflex Aerospace will lead the design of the satellite bus platform for Orbital-1 and the constellation that follows and provide it on an exclusive basis to Orbital for orbital compute applications, applying its expertise in mission-specific, high-performance and adaptable satellite platforms to support one of the industry’s most ambitious space infrastructure programs.

Engineering teams from Orbital in Los Angeles and Reflex Aerospace in Berlin and Munich are working as a single integrated program team across the Atlantic, with Reflex Aerospace serving as system integrator for the space system and leading the satellite bus platform design.

“Our model is to move at maximum speed by working with the best in the world at every layer, from spacecraft platforms to manufacturing to launch. Reflex, as a proven European platform builder, is a cornerstone of that model, and we’re proud to be their first U.S. customer,” said Poon, in a statement.

Orbital recently unveiled plans for a constellation of up to 100,000 satellites intended to provide large-scale computing capacity in orbit. The concept aims to leverage the unique characteristics of the space environment to enable energy-efficient AI and high-performance computing applications while reducing reliance on terrestrial infrastructure.

With planned peak power levels approaching 250 kilowatts, Orbital-1 represents a significant step beyond traditional satellite architectures and highlights the growing demand for compute in space.

The partnership reflects Orbital’s model of moving at maximum speed by working with the best in the world at each layer of the stack – spacecraft platforms, manufacturing and launch – rather than building everything in-house. Reflex Aerospace, a proven European platform builder joining an American constellation program, is a cornerstone of that model, and the agreement marks a further deepening of the transatlantic space economy.

Information for this story was provided by Orbital.