Daytona
Phantom Space Corporation
Daytona is Phantom Space Corporation's family of mass-manufactured, two-stage small-satellite launch vehicles, evolving through the Daytona I, II, and III variants, using Ursa Major's Ripley and Hadley LOX/RP-1 engines.
Technical specifications
- Stages
- 2 (expendable)
- Propellant
- LOX / RP-1
- Daytona III - Height
- 21.2 m
- Daytona III - Diameter
- 2 m
- Daytona III - First stage engines
- 2x Ursa Major Ripley, combined 444 kN thrust
- Daytona III - Second stage engine
- 1x Ursa Major Hadley (vacuum-optimized)
- Daytona III - Payload to 500 km SSO
- 816 kg
- Daytona II - Height
- 18.6 m
- Daytona II - Payload to 500 km SSO
- 306 kg
- Daytona I - Height
- 18 m
- Daytona I - Payload to LEO
- ~180 kg
- Flight heritage/status (mid-2026)
- No orbital flights to date; in development. Company is booking launches for 2027 (Daytona I/II) and 2028 (Daytona III); maiden flight publicly targeted for H2 2027.
About
Daytona is Phantom Space Corporation’s dedicated small-satellite orbital launch vehicle, designed as a mass-manufactured, low-cost, two-stage expendable rocket burning liquid oxygen and RP-1. It targets the smallsat and cubesat rideshare/dedicated launch market. The design has iterated through three configurations: Daytona I (18 m tall, first stage with nine Ursa Major Hadley engines, ~180 kg to LEO); Daytona II (18.6 m tall, first stage switched to a single Ursa Major Ripley engine, 306-440 kg to SSO/LEO); and Daytona III (21.2 m tall, 2 m diameter, first stage with two Ripley engines producing 444 kN combined thrust, capable of about 816 kg to 500 km SSO). Phantom Space has also acquired Vector Launch’s assets and IP to accelerate development. As of mid-2026, Daytona has not yet flown; the company is still developing and testing the vehicle, with the maiden orbital launch publicly targeted for the second half of 2027, and is currently booking future launch manifests.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.