Arc, Inversion’s capsule, promises to deliver critical cargo from orbit to anywhere in the world in one hour, with an accuracy of 15 meters.
Summary
California-based startup Inversion Space has unveiled Arc, a reusable orbital capsule with a lifting-body fuselage that, according to the company, can deliver critical payloads to any location on Earth in less than an hour with a claimed accuracy of approximately 15 m (50 ft), regardless of terrain: sea, snow, or ground. The concept is primarily aimed at defense: pre-positioning a constellation of loaded capsules in low orbit, ready to deorbit on demand to ground forces. Inversion has raised $54 million since 2021 and is aiming for a first orbital flight around 2026, but several obstacles remain: precision hypersonic navigation, FAA certifications for reentry and landing, recovery in unprepared areas, and industrial cadence. The market is heating up: the US Space Force is pushing its Point-to-Point Delivery program; SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, and Anduril are conducting related demonstrations; Varda has already landed autonomous capsules. Arc could become an agile building block, complementing large launch vehicles such as Starship, if the technical and economic promise is confirmed.
The operational concept: “on-demand” orbital logistics
Inversion wants to transform low Earth orbit into a logistics depot. Arc capsules would be pre-positioned on orbital planes covering the planet. At the request of a command center, one of them would initiate a calculated deorbiting, cross the atmosphere at hypersonic speed, and then make a precision landing close to the consumer point. The stated objective: deliver in less than 1 hour and aim for an impact point within a radius of approximately 15 m (50 ft), without ground infrastructure, including at sea with recovery by speedboat. This ambition echoes an old military intuition: using space to bypass air and sea logistics bottlenecks over long distances between theaters.
Arc architecture: a reusable and autonomous lifting body
Arc uses a lifting body that generates lift without prominent wings, which facilitates precise guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) through dense layers and allows it to land on water, snow, or ground. The structure, designed for reuse, incorporates a heat shield and a landing/water landing system compatible with a range of “unprepared” terrains. The company cites a terminal accuracy of around 15 m (50 ft), an order of magnitude that requires robust GNC algorithms, efficient high-dynamic actuators, and a terrain sensor for the final approach. Payload mass and volume are not publicly disclosed. Inversion positions Arc as a small carrier compared to Starship-type “mega-vectors.”
The military value proposition: speed, access, dispersion
For a military command, the benefits are clear: reducing theater-to-theater time from several days/hours to less than an hour, bypassing A2/AD prohibitions on air hubs, and dispersing arrival points to limit vulnerability. Arc targets highly critical but low-mass payloads: blood and biomedical supplies, critical components for weapons systems, mission electronics, temperature-sensitive drugs, and even deployable ISR sensors. The ability to target a rough area (beach, lake, snow-covered plateau) and quickly recover the capsule opens up tactical scenarios that would be impossible for a conventional aircraft without an advanced base.
The industrial reality: financing, maturity, and test milestones
Inversion raised $44 million in Series A funding at the end of 2024 (investors: Spark Capital, Adjacent, Lockheed Martin Ventures), bringing total funding to approximately $54 million . The company is aiming for an orbital flight of Arc around 2026, after subsystem testing, and is simultaneously developing the recovery and return to service ecosystem. For an operational logistics system, the following will need to be demonstrated: the announced accuracy, thermal survivability on grazing profiles, reusability with low return-to-service costs, and long-term orbital parking capability. The first military contracts will likely come as OTAs/demos funded by the DoD prior to any constellation deployment.
Regulatory and environmental challenges: recent lessons
Any controlled reentry over US or allied territory requires a FAA framework and rigorous environmental assessments. The recent Varda case showed that an autonomous capsule can obtain authorizations and land at UTTR (Utah) after environmental review; conversely, the P2P testing project on Johnston Atoll was suspended in the summer of 2025 due to wildlife concerns, proving that the location of test/delivery sites remains a sensitive issue. Arc will have to integrate designated sites and aeronautical notice procedures to avoid traffic conflicts, especially if the ambition is to target unprepared areas close to civilian interests.
The likely timeline: between demonstration and initial service
Even with an orbital flight by 2026, entry into initial capacity will depend on customer acceptance and proof of success rates. As an indication, other “similar” programs have been delayed by several years: Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser, despite being subsidized, will not carry out a mission before the end of 2026 according to the latest announcements. Arc can move faster (less dependence on the ISS), but will still have to cross the qualification valley: repeatability, multi-terrain accuracy, 24/7 recovery, and maintenance chain in a few hours. A limited service in a restricted military scenario could appear before the end of the decade, but a complete constellation will require more time and capital.
Useful comparisons: from “micro-drop” to “hyper-freight”
The Arc–Varda tandem: proof of the feasibility of small capsules
Varda Space has validated the autonomous reentry of small capsules (W-1 to W-3) with payload recovery and delivery on three occasions. Although designed for pharmaceuticals and materials R&D, these capsules demonstrate the overall mechanics that Inversion needs to industrialize: controlled reentry, ground accuracy, rapid recovery, and return to service. The major difference lies in terminal precision (Arc aims for ~15 m) and field versatility (water/ground/snow).
The “heavyweights” of Point-to-Point: SpaceX, Blue Origin, Anduril, Rocket Lab
On the DoD side, the Rocket Cargo program, renamed Point-to-Point Delivery (P2PD), aims to deliver heavy loads ultra-fast. Starship is being studied to deliver dozens of tons with a volume close to that of a C-17; Blue Origin and Anduril are also under study contracts. Rocket Lab is preparing a P2P “return-to-Earth” demo around 2026 with Neutron. These sectors target mass; Arc targets tactical responsiveness on small payloads, potentially complementary in a network: large launch vehicles provide an advanced hub, while capsules cover the last mile within an hour.
The Dream Chaser case: back on track but not “where we want”
Dream Chaser is back on track with a 1.5 g landing window and cargo access within 1 hour after landing. It is a versatile spaceplane, but it requires infrastructure (compatible runways), whereas Arc claims all-terrain landing capabilities. The two approaches can coexist: Dream Chaser for planned flows of a few tons, Arc for opportunistic deliveries as close as possible to dispersed units.
Key figures to watch: accuracy, cadence, mission cost
Three metrics will make the difference:
- Terminal accuracy: the target of ≈ 15 m (50 ft) must remain true in all conditions (wind, terrain, rough seas). Without this, the operational effect decreases dramatically.
- Cadence/reuse: aim for several rotations per week per capsule with a return to service time of < 24 hours. This is the key to sustainability. (Not published at this stage.)
- Cost per mission: Arc must fit between tactical air and heavy space. In practice, the cost must become competitive with a strategic flight when the time factor saves lives or prevents equipment loss. (Hypothesis to be documented during DoD demos.)
Technical risks: heat, GN&C, flight termination
Hypersonic reentry profiles expose the capsule to severe thermal flows; the performance of the TPS (Thermal Protection System) in sand/salt/water environments will be decisive. Navigation requires robust sensor fusion (INS, anti-jamming GNSS, vision) and control laws capable of countering gusts in the subsonic phase. Finally, safety requires flight termination and payload neutralization chains in the event of trajectory deviation. Arc will have to demonstrate repeated campaigns with low radial deviations, a short recovery time, and payload integrity despite impact and salt corrosion. These requirements go beyond simply achieving a single successful re-entry. (Doctrinal points corroborated by recent FAA/DoD guidelines on re-entry and P2P.)
Defensive and civilian use cases: beyond the battlefield
Militarily, Arc targets special forces, forward brigades, and isolated naval units: medicines, small quantities of precision munitions, sensitive optics, and software cartridges. Civilian uses could include disaster relief, critical cold chains, and maintenance parts for isolated sites (mines, offshore platforms). The condition is orbital availability: without a sufficient constellation, the promised time remains theoretical. Inversion envisions “over time, thousands of Arcs in orbit,” a milestone that will require capital expenditure and recurring contracts.
The economics of the model: carrier satellites and launch backbone
Arc does not launch alone: it depends on a launch backbone (Falcon 9, Vulcan, New Glenn, Neutron, etc.) to pre-position its capsules. The continuing decline in orbit insertion costs makes the idea more realistic than it was ten years ago. Conversely, parking capacity in low orbit is not unlimited: controlled deorbiting, debris, congestion, and altitude maintenance costs will have to be factored into the mission price. Viability will depend on pooling: grouped transport, in-orbit refueling, fleet logistics, and “as-a-service” contracts with guaranteed availability.
Arc’s place in the landscape: agile niche or future standard?
If Starship and its counterparts validate heavy point-to-point transport, they will provide unconventional advanced hubs. An Arc constellation could then carry out “micro-deliveries” distributed within the hour around these hubs or directly to small units. This logistical biotope—slow but massive volumes, ultra-fast micro-volumes—is consistent with the dispersion of modern forces and the fragility of large bases in the face of long-range strikes. The first player to prove accuracy, mission cost, and cadence will impose its standard. Inversion has one advantage: its focus on a single capsule and the simplicity of a reusable lifting body. The downside is that it must win the battle for first operational references.
A high bar, but a real strategic corridor
Arc is bringing to life a long-held theoretical vision: delivering a payload in one hour where aviation cannot or cannot do so quickly enough. The window is open: DoD budgets, the maturity of autonomous re-entries, and the importance of the time factor in conflicts. The bar is high: certifying, repeating, industrializing, and financing a constellation. If Inversion succeeds in proving 15 m (50 ft) accuracy across multiple terrains with low recurring costs, Arc will become a key component of military space logistics—and a catalyst for high-value civilian applications.
Sources
– The War Zone / The Drive: “Arc Orbital Supply Capsule Aims To Put Military Supplies Anywhere On Earth Within An Hour”, 2025.
– Inversion Space: Arc presentation (design, operational concept, accuracy), accessed 2025.
– CompositesWorld: “Inversion Space looks to 2026 orbital flight for Arc”, 2025.
– Axios: Series A fundraising ($44 million) and cumulative total of $54 million, 2024.
– USSF P2PD / Rocket Cargo: Defensescoop (2024) and encyclopedic summary (2025).
– Reuters: suspension of Starship tests on Johnston Atoll (environment), 2025.
– Space.com: successful returns of Varda W-1 to W-3 capsules (2024–2025).
– FAA: Varda environmental impact study at UTTR (2024).
– SpaceFlight Now / Aviation Week: Dream Chaser schedule (postponed to late 2026).
– SpaceFlight Now: Rocket Lab/Neutron point-to-point demonstration starting in 2026.
– The Space Review: Starship heavy cargo potential.
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