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Completed TRL 8 (started at 5, targeting 8)
Spyder’s high-efficiency upper-stage solid rocket motors are designed to increase performance and support a bigger rocket, enabling heavier payloads to go higher and faster. Compared to the company’s SpaceLoft sounding rocket, which can carry a 60-pound payload to altitudes of 100-120 km (about 70 miles high) with 3 minutes of microgravity, Spyder can carry 400 pounds with increased diameters while providing the same amount of microgravity time.
Problem Statement
UP Aerospace developed the Spyder hypersonic launch system as a low-cost vehicle to enable enhanced suborbital missions and planetary re-entry test environments. Spyder was designed to support hypersonic missions reaching speeds of Mach 10.
Technology Maturation
As UP Aerospace continues development of its new sounding rocket, Spyder’s next mission will integrate guidance and control systems. Future Spyder developments include a maximum performance booster motor and multiple upper-stage variants capable of achieving altitudes approaching 300 km to support a wide variety of hypersonic mission objectives.
Summary of June 13, 2025, Flight Test
Spyder’s maiden flight took place on June 13, 2025, at White Sands Missile Range, which provided the photo above. This flight test was to advance re-entry capsules by enabling evaluation of stability, control, and thermal management systems during hypersonic flight. During the flight, Spyder reached the hypersonic speed threshold and successfully deployed the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s payload test vehicle.
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This is a mature technology (TRL 8) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.
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