Vaya Space

Vaya Space is a privately held space and defense company headquartered on Florida's Space Coast in Cocoa, Florida. Founded in 2017 as Rocket Crafters and rebranded to Vaya Space in 2021, the company designs orbital launch vehicles, in-space propulsion systems, and advanced missile engines built around its proprietary vortex-hybrid rocket technology. Its signature innovation, the STAR-3D (Safe, Throttleable, Affordable, Reliable, 3D-printed) hybrid engine, pairs a liquid oxidizer with a solid fuel grain that is 3D-printed from recycled thermoplastics, combining the safety and simplicity of solid propulsion with the throttle control and restart capability of liquid systems.

Vaya's flagship vehicle, the two-stage Dauntless rocket, is designed to deliver roughly 1,000 kg to low Earth orbit or 610 kg to sun-synchronous orbit from Cape Canaveral. The company conducted a successful suborbital hybrid-engine test flight in Mojave, California in January 2022 and received the International Green Apple Environment Award later that year in recognition of its recycled-fuel approach to propulsion.

Beyond orbital launch, Vaya Space has expanded into adjacent defense and in-space propulsion markets. In 2024 the company was awarded an Air Force Research Laboratory contract to develop hybrid propulsion for hypersonic missile applications and signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the U.S. Army's DEVCOM. In 2025, Vaya was selected for a $1.2M AFWERX Phase II contract to further advance hybrid-fueled ramjet propulsion for hypersonic systems, and announced a partnership with Seagate Space to develop an offshore, Gulf-based floating launch platform for the Dauntless rocket, aimed at unlocking flexible, mission-optimized orbital access for commercial and defense customers.