Loft Orbital X MaiaSpace
Partner
15.07.2026
Paris, July 8, 2026
- Loft Orbital, a global space infrastructure company providing turnkey satellite missions for government and commercial customers, has selected MaiaSpace, a pioneering European launch services provider, to expand its access to Low Earth Orbit from Europe.
- The agreement covers the launch of multiple missions starting in 2028 and lays the foundation for a long-term partnership between MaiaSpace and Loft Orbital.
- With Loft Orbital becoming the fourth commercial customer to place its trust in MaiaSpace over the past fourteen months, the company further demonstrates the strong market fit of the Maia launcher for the rapidly expanding small satellite sector.
Featuring a large 3.5-meter-diameter payload fairing, a lift capability of up to 4 tons, and the optional Colibri kick stage for enhanced mission flexibility, Maia delivers a versatile solution for a wide range of missions. Launching from the Guiana Space Centre, whose unique Atlantic-facing location enables access to all orbital inclinations – from Sun-synchronous to inclined orbits – Maia is particularly well suited to the deployment of satellite constellations.
For Loft Orbital, the agreement reinforces its ability to deliver end-to-end satellite missions from Europe, combining platform standardization, mission integration, launch coordination, and in-orbit operations. By securing access to a European launch solution, Loft Orbital further strengthens its capacity to serve institutional and commercial customers requiring responsive, reliable and sovereign space infrastructure.
The agreement builds on a long-standing relationship of trust between MaiaSpace and Loft Orbital and reflects a strong operational fit between MaiaSpace’s flexible launch model and Loft Orbital’s end-to-end mission delivery model. By combining repeatable satellite infrastructure with European launch capacity, the partnership is designed to make European satellite missions faster to deploy, easier to scale and more predictable to execute.
"With the signing of this contract, just days after breaking ground on the MaiaFactory, our new industrial production facility in Vernon, MaiaSpace further consolidates its launch manifest, more than half of which is already secured for Maia's first three years of operations" "This contract illustrates the versatility of our launcher configurations: with expandable and reusable versions, and its Colibri kick-stage, Maia is able to address a broad range of mission requirements - from single satellite launches to constellation deployment and replenishment - across multiple orbits, for both commercial and institutional customers. This modularity reinforces our ambition to become a leading player in the Low Earth Orbit launch market, targeting around twenty launches per year by the beginning of the next decade. We are delighted to partner with Loft Orbital, a pioneering space player who shares our objective to make space access more affordable.”
By combining Loft Orbital’s standardized, turnkey satellite platform with MaiaSpace’s innovative, modular and cost-effective launch services, the two companies are expanding the range of flexible and cost-effective solutions available to satellite operators. Together, they enable faster, more reliable access to orbit, allowing customers to focus on maximizing the value of their missions. This collaboration also contributes to strengthening French and European sovereignty in access to space, by supporting autonomous, competitive and resilient launch and in-orbit capabilities within Europe.
“Over the past few years, we have built a strong relationship of trust with MaiaSpace, driven by a shared commitment to agility, reliability and customer-driven execution. As Loft Orbital strengthens its work with public and institutional players in Europe, choosing a trusted European launch provider is a natural step in supporting a more sovereign and reliable European space ecosystem,”
ABOUT MAIASPACE
Founded in April 2022, MaiaSpace designs, manufactures, commercializes and operates the first reusable and eco-designed mini launcher in Europe, which prefigurates the future family of sovereign and competitive European launch vehicles. MaiaSpace leverages the best of both worlds: drawing on the excellence and expertise of the historic European space sector, especially that of its mother company ArianeGroup, while maintaining the speed, agility and culture of risk of a start-up. Powered with liquid oxygen and liquid bio-methane, MaiaSpace’s launcher has a lift-off capacity of up to 4,000 kg in Low-Earth Orbit, depending on the launcher version (expendable or reusable), the inclination and the use of its Colibri kick-stage. The development of Maia is led by over 350 MaiaSpacers working with industrial partners based in France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria and Poland.
ABOUT LOFT ORBITAL
Founded in 2017, Loft Orbital provides governments, companies, and research institutions with a fast, reliable way to deploy missions in orbit. Loft Orbital integrates, launches, and operates spacecraft on behalf of its customers, allowing them to focus on mission outcomes rather than building or operating their own satellites.
By leveraging Loft Orbital’s existing space infrastructure, modular technologies, and inventory of satellites on a shelf, customers can deploy new capabilities in months instead of years. Loft Orbital has flown more than 25 missions across a wide range of payloads and applications, demonstrating consistent, repeatable performance on-orbit. Loft Orbital is a global company with facilities in San Francisco, Golden, Colorado, and Toulouse, France. In 2024, Loft Orbital and Marlan Space established Orbitworks, the Middle East’s first private space-infrastructure company, extending Loft Orbital’s ability to support customers worldwide.