Vaxon Space describes itself as a builder of air-breathing satellites, designed to operate between 180 and 250 km in very low Earth orbit and to deliver high-resolution imaging for defense and commercial customers.Vaxon Space

• What they build

  The company's technology page describes a purpose-built very low Earth orbit platform, combining air-breathing electric propulsion, an airframe resistant to atomic oxygen, a high-efficiency inlet and deployable solar arrays. It gives no product name beyond the Vaxon bus.Vaxon Space

• Where they stand

  Vaxon says it has ground-tested its compressible-flow inlet and propulsion system at the University of Colorado Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.Vaxon Space

• Regulatory status

  The company says its air-breathing propulsion proposal was made awardable on DARPA's Expedited Research Innovation System marketplace on 29 October 2025, which it describes as a procurement pathway for Defense Department activities to select and award technologies. That is a route to an award, not an award.Vaxon Space

• Who runs it

  Steven Shepard is Vaxon Space's co-founder and chief executive. He was a program manager at Lockheed Martin before founding it.Aerospace America

• Who they sell to

  Vaxon says it is aiming at the US government and allied customers for imaging and intelligence, and at commercial buyers in agriculture, energy, infrastructure, forestry and mapping.Vaxon Space

These are the company's own published design targets, not measured results. No Vaxon Space satellite has yet flown, and none of the figures has been independently verified.