Lodestar Space has secured funding from the UK Space Agency’s International Bilateral Fund (IBF) to support a ground demonstration of its Mithril avionics aboard Impulse Space’s Mira spacecraft, according to Impulse’s update.

This effort is a three-party collaboration among Lodestar (UK), University College London (UK), and Impulse Space (USA). The project aims to integrate and validate Lodestar’s AI-driven avionics in a hardware-in-the-loop setting, de-risking future orbital operations.

Lodestar describes the demonstration as a pathway to fielding the UK’s first sovereign payload for space object detection and characterization. According to the announcement, the test will support capabilities for tracking, classifying, and responding to orbital threats—strengthening space domain awareness (SDA) for both UK and U.S. missions.

Impulse’s Mira spacecraft, noted for its agility and maneuverability, will host the payload during the test phase. The company claims Mira’s high delta-v and responsive platform make it an ideal host for advanced mission profiles in space.

Thomas Santini, Lodestar’s CTO, remarked that the project provides a critical opportunity to align their avionics with Impulse’s systems and prove out autonomous on-orbit functions intended for “Protect and Defend” roles.

The funding under IBF will support a ground demonstration (hardware-in-the-loop) at Impulse’s facilities, which is meant to validate system integration ahead of a full orbital launch.

Impulse leadership emphasized the synergies of the collaboration. Eric Romo, President & COO of Impulse Space, noted that Mira’s dynamic capabilities are well suited to host advanced payloads like Mithril, enabling more responsive and complex mission profiles.

Through combining Lodestar’s avionics, UCL’s research, and Impulse’s spacecraft platform, the project is positioned to push forward the development of autonomous, tactically responsive space defense capabilities for allied nations.