Mission

We Need More Space

Mission Name

We Need More Space

Carrier Name

ION SCV Stellar Stephanus

Launch Date

November 2025

Launch Site

Vandenberg

Launcher

SpaceX

Rocket

Falcon 9

Mission Status

Ongoing

Passengers

8

Satellites Onboard

5

Hosted Payloads

3

We Need More Space, November 2025
We Need More Space Mission Booklet

Mission Updates

1.

UPDATE 1

December 1st, 2025

Launch

D-Orbit successfully launched We Need More Space, the 20th commercial mission of the ION Satellite Carrier (ION), on November 28, 2025, as part of SpaceX’s Transporter-15 mission. The Falcon 9 lifted off at 10:44 a.m. PT (19:44 p.m UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, deploying ION SCV Stellar Stephanus into a Sun-Synchronous Orbit at an altitude of approximately 510 km. Also flying aboard the same Falcon 9 was another ION, SCV Galactic Georgius, which is carrying out the Ride With Me mission.

Throughout We Need More Space, ION SCV Stellar Stephanus will deploy five satellites and perform three hosted-payload demonstrations in orbit.

Our mission operations team is currently conducting post-launch checks ahead of the start of the mission’s operational phase.

Image: Photo Credit: SpaceXPhoto Credit: SpaceX

Roadmap

PHASE 1 - COMMISSIONING

As soon as ION SCV Stellar Stephanus reaches orbit, our spacecraft operations engineers will establish a bidirectional communication channel and start the launch and early orbit phase (LEOP), neutralizing the rotation imparted by the launch vehicle during separation, correcting the attitude, testing the satellites' subsystems, and preparing for the next phases.

PHASE 2 - COMMERCIAL PHASE, HOSTED PAYLOAD DEMONSTRATION

Once concluded the commissioning phase, ION SCV Stellar Stephanus will start the commercial phase of the mission, which will consist in the deployment of the hosted satellites and the in-orbit demonstration of the third-party payloads hosted onboard. For this mission, ION will deploy five satellites and perform three in-orbit demonstrations of hosted payloads.

PHASE 3 - DECOMMISSIONING

At the end of the mission, the platform will join the fleet of IONs already in orbit and operated by the company. At the end of its life, the spacecraft will be decommissioned in compliance with the Space Debris Mitigation guidelines. The pressure vessels will be depleted from leftover fuel and oxidizer, the battery charging system will be deactivated, and the batteries will be completely discharged. The spacecraft, now inert, will enter a decommissioning trajectory that will bring it to burn up upon atmospheric re-entry within a few years.

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