Swiss Startup Stellar Alpina Unveils Lunar Lander Built on Rotating Detonation Engine

Stellar Alpina, a Swiss space startup founded nine months ago, has revealed plans for a lunar lander and an orbital transfer vehicle, both powered by its in house rotating detonation rocket engine. The company announced the Morpho lunar lander and the Monarch orbital transfer vehicle on 2 November, positioning the effort as the foundation for lunar surface transportation.

Stellar Alpina intends to focus first on Monarch, using the spacecraft as the technological basis for its subsequent lunar lander. The company's four founders came from the Academic Spaceflight Initiative Switzerland, a student led organisation that developed a rotating detonation rocket engine demonstrator in 2024, and the startup represents a transition from that student led research to commercial development.

Monarch is being designed to deliver payloads of up to 200 kilogrammes to a range of orbits, extending as far as cislunar space. The company has identified additional applications for the vehicle, including hosting payloads and conducting orbital inspection, rendezvous, and proximity operations. Building on Monarch's architecture, Morpho will be designed to deliver up to 50 kilogrammes to the Moon's surface, with the company describing the lander as transportation infrastructure for a lunar economy.

The company's Genziana rotating detonation engine is designed to produce between 1 and 5 kilonewtons of thrust, burning propane and hydrogen peroxide. Stellar Alpina completed an initial engine testing campaign earlier this year, conducting eight successful hot fire tests of its Engine 0 prototype, which demonstrated up to five stable detonation waves. In October, the company announced it had expanded its testing programme, completing more than 150 hot fire tests across 23 engine configurations.

The commercial development is backed by a CHF 3.5 million, or 3.8 million euro, pre seed funding round that closed in May. The round was led by Swiss venture capital firm Founderful, with participation from LP&E and other investors.

"Just as previous generations connected regions once separated by mountains, our challenge is now to bridge worlds," said Stellar Alpina co founder Victor Elliesen. "At Stellar Alpina, we are building the spacecraft and infrastructure to make that possible."

Stellar Alpina frames its work as building the spacecraft and infrastructure to connect Earth and the Moon, with Morpho intended to serve as the transportation infrastructure for a thriving lunar economy.

The company plans to develop Monarch first before advancing to the Morpho lunar lander, which will build on Monarch's architecture.