SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 29, 2026--
Momentus Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTS) (“Momentus” or the “Company”), a U.S. commercial space company specializing in satellite technology, space transportation, and in-orbit services, today announced the successful completion of a Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO) demonstration by its Vigoride-7 Orbital Service Vehicle (OSV) utilizing low-cost commercial components for its sensor suite in a mission with a NASA satellite. The RPO demonstration showcased the Company’s capabilities to integrate and operate this sensor suite, which produces the high-quality imagery necessary to support autonomous RPO in any lighting environment.
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"This demonstration highlights Momentus' ability to integrate and validate innovative commercial technologies, unlocking new capabilities for in-space transportation, servicing, and logistics," said John Rood, Momentus Chief Executive Officer. "We believe lower cost autonomous operations conducted at greater scale have significant potential to play a key role in supporting in-space operations like manufacturing, servicing, and habitation in the growing space economy."
The demonstration was undertaken under the Company’s contract with SpaceWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Space Force. This $1.86 million contract was previously awarded to Momentus by SpaceWERX as part of its Space Maneuver Challenge competition. The effort included the on-orbit checkout and operation of a suite of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) sensors retrofitted and space-qualified for use in the low Earth orbit (LEO) environment. Importantly, the suite demonstrated commercially viable sensing architecture for autonomous rendezvous and proximity operations.
During the mission, Momentus deployed NASA's R5-S10 6U CubeSat from Vigoride-7. Following deployment and autonomous spacecraft checkout, the NASA satellite performed navigation maneuvers in the vicinity of Vigoride-7, enabling the collection of optical, infrared, and LiDAR data at varying distances and under multiple lighting conditions.
The demonstration successfully achieved both its primary and extended mission objectives. Data collected by the sensor suite tracked and characterized the NASA satellite throughout the operation.
R5-S10 is funded and managed by NASA’s Small Spacecraft and Distributed Systems (SSDS) within the agency’s Research and Technology Mission Directorate (RTMD), along with additional support provided by Johnson Space Center’s Engineering Directorate. SSDS is based at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley.
Through a previously announced collaboration with Solstar Space, this mission successfully demonstrated the use of Solstar's Deke communications terminal. Deke maintained communications between the two spacecraft and supported the transfer and download of imagery collected during the demonstration. The successful performance of the communications system highlights the growing role of commercial space networking capabilities in supporting advanced on-orbit operations.
With the success of this demonstration, Momentus continues to expand its growing portfolio of on-orbit technology and is a further demonstration that the Vigoride platform is an effective vehicle for testing and deploying next-generation space infrastructure technologies. By validating commercially derived autonomous operations technologies on orbit, the Company is positioning itself to pursue future government and commercial opportunities in emerging space infrastructure markets while expanding the long-term revenue potential of the Vigoride platform.
Momentus launched Vigoride-7 aboard the SpaceX Transporter-16 rideshare mission in March 2026 and has now successfully demonstrated critical technologies supporting future in-space logistics and servicing architectures.
The Company's upcoming fully booked Vigoride-8 mission is scheduled to fly in 2027 carrying two NASA payloads. Momentus has also begun work on its Vigoride-9 spacecraft. Capacity remains available on the Vigoride-9 mission, and organizations interested in securing a payload slot can contact the Momentus Commercial team at sales@momentusspace.com.
About Momentus
Momentus is a U.S. commercial space company offering satellites, satellite components, and in-space transportation and infrastructure services. Through its Vigoride orbital service vehicle, the Company delivers hosted payload support, last-mile delivery, and servicing capabilities tailored to scalable mission architectures.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain statements which may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expected filing of the Company’s Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and its management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future, projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, and are not guarantees of future performance. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of Momentus’ control. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to risks and uncertainties included under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed by the Company on March 31, 2026, as such factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with the Commission, accessible on the Commission’s website at www.sec.gov and the Investor Relations section of our website at investors.momentus.space. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and, except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Momentus Vigoride 7 OSV with sensor suite taken by NASA R5-S10 satellite (Image Credit: NASA-JSC)
PUERTO SAN CARLOS, Mexico (AP) — Wind whipped Mexico’s northern Pacific coast and water began to flood some streets Monday as Hurricane Polo bore down on Baja California Sur, threatening flash floods and mudslides. Meanwhile, Hurricane Nolo could still bring torrential rain to parts of Hawaii even as the storm edges away from the state.
In Puerto San Carlos, a fishing town of about 5,700 people, high tides and pounding waves from Polo were breaching sea barriers as residents worried for their homes in the mostly empty town. Hundreds of people in the region evacuated, hunkering down in nearby shelters in schools and other facilities.
“Civil Protection told those of us here in San Carlos to evacuate because this is a high-risk area. With the current tides, the expected waves and the wind, the earthen barriers they built (to prevent flooding) could give way,” Rocío Sánchez, a fisherwoman, said.
Polo was a Category 1 storm with top sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) Tuesday but is expected to weaken later on Tuesday as it moves inland, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It’s expected to produce 6-12 inches (about 15 to 30 centimeters) of rain across parts of Baja California Sur.
Forecasters said it would hit the Mexican mainland after lashing Baja California Sur, and that life-threatening winds and flash floods were expected. It could bring heavy rain and flooding to parts of the U.S. Southwest later in the week.
The government of the northern Mexican state of Sonora on Monday night announced it would suspend all “nonessential” activities, including school, sports and nonessential work, in the state capital and more than a dozen municipalities due to the incoming hurricane.
Residents in Baja California Sur were anxiously bracing themselves. Margarita Bobadilla and her family were sheltered in a local school, saying it was safer than weathering the storm in her wooden house.
“Material things can be replaced, but family can’t. My children and I decided to come here last night, and now we’re waiting to see what happens.”
Others lingered in their mostly emptied town of Puerto San Carlos, crossing their fingers the light flooding and powerful winds would be the worst of Polo.
Laura Velázquez, national coordinator of Mexico’s Civil Protection Agency, reported that Polo would make landfall later in the afternoon. With Polo approaching Mexico, the Mexican navy said it had personnel ready across the northern Pacific coast and deployed three vessels that could ship aid to coastal communities isolated by the storm. Local authorities along the Baja California Peninsula said they had shelters at the ready.
At a Monday morning news briefing, Velázquez urged residents to stay off the streets and seek shelter if their homes are at risk. She said travel will be suspended in the area where the hurricane was expected to make landfall and that ports across the region would be closed.
At the same time, Tropical Storm Rachel was brewing over Mexico’s southwest coast. The hurricane center said Tuesday that Rachel had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (96.6 kph) and was located about 265 miles (425 kilometers) southwest of Lazaro Cardenas. No coastal watches or warnings were in effect, but the center said Rachel is forecast to become a hurricane during the next day or so.
Storm activity in the Pacific has been above average during what is already the peak of hurricane season, according to National Weather Service lead forecaster Bob Oravec. He said that pattern is consistent with El Niño years, when the Pacific often sees more tropical storms and hurricanes.
While Polo is slated to weaken over northern Mexico, tropical weather was also supposed to deal a one-two punch to the U.S. Southwest.
The region has already been saturated by heavy rain over the past months, and regions like New Mexico and Grand Canyon were hit by devastating floods earlier this month. Now, the remnants of Polo are forecast to track east across the region, expected to douse Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Texas with inches of rain.
That’s a good chunk of the 8-12 inches (about 20-30 centimeters) the arid area of canyons and rocky expanses with little vegetation usually gets in a year. Such terrain is already conducive to flash flooding, sudden torrents that can sweep down canyons and other low-lying areas with little warning. The new tropical weather adds more risk, said Andrew Mangham, senior service hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Albuquerque.
“We’re getting caught up here in a very, very short time,” Mangham said. “And that’s not really what we want. We want nice rains, you know, all summer long.”
Nolo, meanwhile, was well southwest of Hawaii and moving away from the Big Island as the weekend drew to a close. The Category 3 storm drenched communities in south and southeastern parts of the Big Island over the weekend, prompting some highway closures on Saturday evening and Sunday as rushing water and boulders blocked roadways.
Maximum sustained winds were near 115 mph (185 km/h), with higher gusts, the hurricane center said Tuesday, but the storm is forecast to weaken over the next couple of days.
Hawaii National Guard members rescued 19 people from flooding over the weekend, the U.S. National Guard said in a post on Facebook.
Damage assessments are still underway as Nolo moves northwest. While it’s keeping its distance from the main Hawaiian Islands, it’s approaching Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a marine conservation area northwest of the islands, according to the National Hurricane Center. It could bring dangerous conditions to the area starting Tuesday, the center reported.
Thousands of households and businesses on Maui lost power for a time, but by Monday afternoon, service had been restored to nearly all of them, according to poweroutage.us. The majority of the outages were related to storm damage, according to statements from Hawaiian Electric.
Hawaii residents were still recovering from several other natural events this year, including spring Kona low storms, a May earthquake, Hurricane Lala in August and Hurricane Lowell in September. Those events affected more than 1,290 homes, according to the state, and caused nearly $700 million in damage and recovery costs.
Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Photojournalist Eduardo Verdugo contributed from Puerto San Carlos, Mexico, reporter Julie Walker reported from New York, reporter Mead Gruver reported from Fort Collins, Colorado. Videojournalist Eugene Garcia and photographer Gregory Bull contributed from Hilo, Hawaii.
Workers pull a boat to shore as Hurricane Polo approaches Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur state, Mexico, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Water surges along the coast as Hurricane Polo approaches Puerto San Carlos, in the state of Baja California Sur, Mexico, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
People evacuate their homes as Hurricane Polo approaches Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur state, Mexico, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Residents are evacuated by the Army as Hurricane Polo approaches Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur state, Mexico, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
People evacuate their homes as Hurricane Polo approaches Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur state, Mexico, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
This satellite image provided by NOAA shows Tropical Storm Nolo, left, south of Hawaii; Hurricane Odalys, middle, and Hurricane Polo, right, off the coast of Mexico, in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (NOAA via AP)
Workers build a barricade to help keep water out of their town as Hurricane Polo approaches in Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur state, Mexico, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
A man boards up a house's windows as Hurricane Polo approaches in Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur state, Mexico, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Workers build a barricade to help keep water out of their town as Hurricane Polo approaches in Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur state, Mexico, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Peggy McKibbin looks at where floodwaters from nearby Hurricane Nolo run past widespread damage from last month's Hurricane Lala Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, in Naalehu, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Fire Captain Lui Sales of the Hawaii Fire Department looks for residents to help as rainwater from nearby Hurricane Nolo flood a section of Mamalahoa highway Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, near Naalehu, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
A man rides with his son near where a home was destroyed during last month's Hurricane Lala, as floodwaters from Hurricane Nolo recedes Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, in Naalehu, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
