Phantom Space reclaims former Vector launch technology

TAMPA, Fla. — Remnants of Vector Launch have made it back to one of its original architects after Phantom Space bought launch assets that were sold off in 2020 during the small rocket developer’s bankruptcy.

Tucson, Arizona-based satellite and rocket developer Phantom, co-founded by Jim Cantrell in 2019 after leaving Vector following its financial difficulties, announced the acquisition Feb. 26. Financial details were not disclosed.

Cantrell said the assets, comprising flight-proven design elements, engineering data and other technology originally developed for Vector, will be immediately integrated into Phantom’s Daytona vehicle architecture to reduce development risk.

“As the original architect of Vector’s vision, it’s deeply meaningful to bring these assets home to Phantom,” he said in a statement.

“This acquisition isn’t just about technology, it’s about momentum. We’re accelerating Daytona, creating high-tech aerospace jobs in Tucson, and moving faster toward orbital capability.”

Phantom, which had raised $37 million as of March 2024, did not detail how the assets would be integrated into Daytona, a two-stage rocket designed for payloads with a maximum mass of 500 kilograms.

The company said in a news release that it is preparing stage-level testing this year following successful hot-fire tests of Daytona’s propulsion assemblies.

Launch pivots

Before its collapse, Vector had raised more than $100 million to develop a family of small launch vehicles that included Vector-R, designed to place about 60 kilograms into low Earth orbit.

Vector’s launch assets were sold in May 2020 for $1.175 million to a consortium led by John Moran, CEO of Pennsylvania-based shipping company Moran Logistics, which had planned to repurpose them for suborbital missions.

Lockheed Martin separately acquired Vector’s GalacticSky software-defined spacecraft technology for $4.25 million.

Phantom also plans to develop satellites under a vertically integrated platform, alongside an in-orbit data-backhaul service called Phantom Cloud.

In a partnership announced in June 2024, the company said Chandler, Arizona-based Assured Space Access would provide radio frequency communications payloads for the proposed 66-satellite Phantom Cloud constellation.