Brian Taylor, a SpaceX veteran who helped build Starlink and Amazon's Leo satellites, has founded Lux Aeterna to develop reusable satellite structures with built-in heat shields. The company emerged from stealth with a $10 million seed round led by Konvoy and participation from Decisive Point, Cubit Capital, and others. The funding will support development of the Delphi spacecraft, scheduled for a SpaceX launch in early 2027.

Lux Aeterna aims to solve a fundamental problem in satellite economics: current satellites last only five to ten years before becoming obsolete or running out of propellant. By enabling satellites to return to Earth intact, Taylor envisions a future where operators can upgrade components like hyperspectral cameras or computing systems rather than building entirely new satellites. The company has partnered with Southern Launch to return payloads at Australia's Koonibba Test Range.

The regulatory landscape presents challenges, as obtaining reentry licenses remains complex. Lux is heading to Australia partly because US approvals are difficult to secure. While Varda Space successfully returned the first commercial spacecraft to US soil in 2024, the process took months of FAA coordination. Taylor believes regulatory approvals won't bottleneck the company's plans for the next few years, as the FAA learns alongside the emerging reentry industry.