Stratoship Signs MoU with Orbit2Orbit and Sunburnt Space Co.

The Stratoship SZ-155 airship in the stratosphere above central Queensland.

Stratoship signs a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with space companies Orbit2Orbit and Sunburnt Space Co.

The agreement is envisioned to establish a commercial framework that delivers a staged, lab-to-space pathway for the development and deployment of small satellite payloads.

Under the agreement, Orbit2Orbit will operate as a payload integration layer for spaceflight platforms. This creates a structured, repeatable progression that allows customers to move hardware from laboratory testing, through to stratospheric validation with Stratoship, then into suborbital, very low-Earth orbit with Sunburnt Space Co. Payloads will then progress to orbital missions with the cross-compatible payload hosting system.

This approach is delivered through Orbit2Orbit’s Pathfinder program, which is designed to reduce technical risk, cost and time to flight by allowing payloads to be developed once and matured incrementally.

Stratoship’s initial stratospheric missions provide real-world system integration and operational validation under space-like conditions. Payloads can then progress through increasingly representative flight environments without redesign or reintegration at each stage.

The program provides test and evaluation opportunities for environmental verification, system qualification, and sovereign technology validation, without the cost and risk of direct-to-orbit deployment.

While anchored in Australia’s rapidly growing space ecosystem, the Pathfinder program is designed to support international partners, reinforcing Australia’s role as a leader in affordable, repeatable access to space and the development of future orbital infrastructure.