Polaris Intelligence
Polaris
Intelligence
About
Ctrl K
Sign in
© Polaris Intelligence 2026
PrivacyTermsAdmin

Monolith

active
Technology DemonstrationLEOCOSPAR 2021-068ALaunched 7/29/2021
Admin Edit
Mission & Launch
Launch Mission
It's a Little Chile UpH.
Launch Vehicle
Electron
Launch Date
7/29/2021
Orbit & Mass
Orbit Class
LEO
Altitude
603.5 km
Inclination
37.02 deg
Dry Mass
20 kg
Total Mass
20 kg
Payload Classification
Mission Type
Technology Demonstration
Payload Category
TECH
Payload Class
D
Organizations
Operator
Space Test Program
Manufacturer
Air Force Research Lab (AFRL)
Registry
COSPAR ID
2021-068A
UN Registration
ST/SG/SER.E/1024
Track
Mentions
16
All verified mentions of this spacecraft in source documents.
0.0-5.0
Actions

Macquarie Capital, NFX, Nebular, Y Combinator, Adjacent, 776 Ventures, Fuse Ventures, Manhattan West, and Monolith Power Systems participated in the Starcloud round.

RelationshipsValue 4.0Apr 1, 2026Space Infrastructure Startup Raises $170 Million in Series A Round

Starcloud’s Series A included institutional participation from Macquarie Capital, NFX, Nebular, Y Combinator, Adjacent, Seven Seven Six, Fuse Ventures, Manhattan West, and Monolith Power Systems.

Financial
Relationships
Value 3.6
Mar 30, 2026
Starcloud Raises $170M Series A at $1.1B Valuation

Starcloud’s investors include Macquarie Capital, NFX, Nebular, Y Combinator, Adjacent, 776 Ventures, Fuse Ventures, Manhattan West, Monolith Power Systems, and angel investor Dennis Muilenburg.

RelationshipsFinancialValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026Latest News

A monolith telescope from Lawrence Livermore is currently operational on the GEOStare2 mission that the lab launched in 2021 in partnership with Terran Orbital.

RelationshipsCapabilityPlanValue 4.0May 9, 2024Livermore Lab to provide optical payload for U.S. Space Force mission

A gimballed monolith payload called the Stellar Occultation Hypertemporal Imaging Payload was deployed on the International Space Station and put into storage in late April 2024 after a year of operations.

CapabilityPlanValue 4.0May 9, 2024Livermore Lab to provide optical payload for U.S. Space Force mission

Rocket Lab launched the Space Test Program’s Monolith satellite on Electron in 2021.

PlanValue 4.0Apr 24, 2024Rocket Lab to receive $32 million from Space Systems Command for spacecraft for Tactically Responsive Space mission

Rocket Lab launched the Space Test Program’s Monolith satellite on an Electron rocket in 2021.

PlanGeneralValue 4.0Apr 12, 2024Space Systems Command Selects Rocket Lab to Build and Launch Spacecraft for TacRS Mission

Rocket Lab has a growing list of U.S. Space Force programs that includes launching the Space Test Program’s Monolith satellite on Electron in 2021.

PlanRelationshipsValue 4.0Apr 11, 2024Rocket Lab Selected by Space Systems Command to Build and Launch Spacecraft for Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) Mission

Rocket Lab delivered the Air Force Research Laboratory–sponsored demonstration satellite Monolith on an Electron launch in 2021.

RelationshipsGeneralValue 4.0Apr 8, 2024U.S. Space Force awards $14.49 million contract to Rocket Lab for Space Test Program-30

Rocket Lab successfully launched an Air Force Research Laboratory-sponsored demonstration satellite called Monolith in 2021.

PlanRelationshipsCapabilityValue 4.0Apr 8, 2024U.S. Space Force Awards Rocket Lab Launch Contract for Space Test Program (STP)-S30

A U.S. Space Force satellite called Monolith launched from Rocket Lab’s New Zealand site in July 2021 instead of from Wallops.

PlanCapabilityRelationshipsValue 4.0Apr 20, 2022Rocket Lab to launch HawkEye 360 satellites on first Wallops Electron mission

The 2021-07-26 Electron launch placed Monolith, a smallsat developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory, into orbit.

PlanCapabilityGeneralValue 4.0Aug 6, 2021Rocket Lab shifts CAPSTONE launch to New Zealand

Rocket Lab’s Electron two stages performed normally and the kick stage deployed the Monolith satellite 52 minutes after liftoff into a 600-kilometer orbit at an inclination of 37 degrees.

CapabilityGeneralValue 4.6Jul 29, 2021Rocket Lab returns Electron to flight with Space Force launch

Monolith will provide a platform to test future space protection capabilities.

CapabilityPlanValue 2.0Jul 29, 2021Rocket Lab returns Electron to flight with Space Force launch

Rocket Lab announced in December that the Monolith payload would be the first to launch from the new LC-2 pad and that the pad had been scheduled for use in the second quarter of 2020.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.0Apr 30, 2020Rocket Lab tests Electron on new Virginia launch pad

The Electron rocket tested at LC-2 will be used for the launch of Monolith, an Air Force Research Laboratory smallsat intended to demonstrate the ability to deploy a large-aperture payload for space weather monitoring.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.0Apr 30, 2020Rocket Lab tests Electron on new Virginia launch pad