Deimos-One


Deimos-One is an American spaceflight technology development company working on an AI powered, autonomous UAV rocket system to move payloads to space. As of January 2021, the company has completed a successful prototype test flight, reaching an altitude of.

History

Deimos-One was founded in 2020 by Jamin Thompson in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company's current headquarters are in Summerlin, Nevada. In 2021, Deimos-One continued development of its 150,000 square-foot corporate headquarters in southern Nevada and test flight facility.

Technology

Deimos-One is developing a stratospheric UAV powered space launch system that intends to reduce dependency on traditional chemical rockets, with the goal of lowering the cost of access to space while increasing the frequency of launch. The technology uses a first-stage balloon to lift the launch vehicle to a pre-programmed altitude. The rocket ignites its engines once the launch craft reaches a altitude and then inserts the payload into orbit. The launcher aims to be capable of firing rockets from high altitudes and autonomously returning to the ground after firing for collection of mission assets and reuse. If successful, the launch concept is projected to both reduce cost and increase mission efficiency, with the price of a single space launch reduced nearly 20 times to a cost of under.

Products

It currently focuses on technologies in the following three focus areas:
  • Vulcan: an autonomous, rockoon based, AI powered launcher designed to carry payloads such as small, micro, and nanosatellites to orbit.
  • Heaven: a zero-emission spacecraft designed to carry humans and cargo to and from Earth orbit for the purposes of space tourism and scientific research.
  • Robotics and AI: multiple technologies designed for environmental purification, smarter workplaces, and defense purposes.
Vulcan is a multi-stage, stratospheric launch vehicle currently in development, intended to compete in the small satellite launch market. Based on the rockoon concept, the vehicle's primary function will be to fire rockets from high altitudes and autonomously return to the ground after firing for collection of mission assets and reuse. The two-stage craft consists of a stratospheric balloon and a rocket capable UAV. A first-stage balloon system which will carry the launch vehicle to a designated altitude of roughly altitude above the Earth's surface. Once there, the launch vehicle aligns itself and the rocket system inserts the payload into orbit. The design is intended to be multi-mission capable for civil, commercial, and military objectives such as spacecraft component testing, celestial observation, recon, communications, data analysis, and scientific research missions. As of December 2025, their website has no mention of a orbital rockoon system.
Heaven is a zero-emission spacecraft in development, designed to carry humans and cargo to and from Earth orbit. The craft, which consists of a high-performance, balloon-borne, pressurized space capsule, would perform crewed flights to near space and autonomously return to Earth. The technology would carry up to 7 passengers and one pilot to an altitude as high as without the need of a spacesuit. The flight involves a two-hour ascent phase and a two-hour cruise altitude, before returning to Earth using a custom guidance system and steerable parachute.