Proteus Space to build Draper a custom satellite — no compromise on a standard bus
Proteus Space, a dual-use aerospace company focused on rapid end-to-end access to space, announced it has been selected by The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory (Draper) for an advanced on-orbit mission under a multi-year agreement.
Under the agreement, Proteus will deliver tailored rapid access to space services covering the full lifecycle: spacecraft design, assembly, integration and test (AI&T), licensing, launch brokerage, launch integration, and on-orbit commissioning and operations. The award reflects growing demand from novel payload owners for custom bus and mission solutions that avoid the uncertainty, compromises, and risks associated with standard satellite bus integration campaigns.
"We're proud to be selected by Draper, an organization synonymous with daring human space achievements and engineering excellence, to take on this challenging and important mission," said David Kervin, founder and CEO of Proteus Space. "This award adds to a growing portfolio of national security, civil, and commercial space programs for Proteus, from customers who refuse to compromise their payloads and mission to fit a standard bus, need to move fast, and won't sacrifice engineering rigor."
Aaron Blow, Vice President and General Manager at Draper, explained the choice: "We selected Proteus because they solve problems that don't have off-the-shelf answers. The pace of space missions has changed, the payloads and missions have changed, and the way we develop spacecraft has to change with it."
The contract adds to Proteus's portfolio, which includes national security, civil, and commercial space programs. The company positions itself as a dual-use provider — serving both defense and civilian customers — with a focus on shrinking timelines, maximizing payload performance, and maintaining engineering rigor. Proteus was founded to address the gap between the growing complexity of payloads and the inflexibility of standard satellite buses, offering a fully customized alternative that adapts to the mission rather than forcing the payload to fit a pre-existing platform.
