Masten Space Systems
Masten Space Systems was an aerospace manufacturer startup company in Mojave, California (formerly in Santa Clara, California) that was developing a line of vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) rockets, initially for uncrewed research sub-orbital spaceflights and eventually intended to support robotic orbital spaceflight launches.
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace and defense |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Defunct | 2022 |
| Fate | Acquired by Astrobotic |
| Headquarters | Mojave, California United States |
Key people | Sean Mahoney, CEO David Masten, CTO and Chairman Reuben Garcia, Executive Manager of Landing Systems Matthew Kuhns, Chief Engineer |
| Products | Suborbital spacecraft Space systems Throttleable rocket engines Rocket propulsion hardware Reusable launch vehicles |
| Services | Rocket propulsion design and analysis Space hardware tests Concept demonstration Vertical landing software |
Number of employees | 84 (2020) |
| Website | masten |
| Footnotes / references The company's slogan is "We Fly" | |
In 2020, NASA awarded Masten a contract for a lunar lander mission; NASA was to pay Masten US$75.9 million for Masten to build and launch a lander called XL-1 to take NASA and other customer payloads to the south pole of the Moon. Masten Mission One would have been Masten's first space flight; it was scheduled for launch in November 2023.
The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2022, and was later acquired by Astrobotic Technology in September 2022.