Armadillo Aerospace really pushed the boundaries of vertical takeoff and vertical landing (VTVL) tech. They ran tons of test programs and built reusable rocket systems while chasing the dream of commercial suborbital spaceflight.
John Carmack started Armadillo Aerospace in 2001 over in Mesquite, Texas. If you know Carmack, you probably know him from the video game world—he co-founded id Software and brought a lot of technical know-how with him.
The team set out to build reusable rocket-powered vehicles for commercial spaceflight. They had their eyes on the emerging NewSpace market and wanted to fly crewed suborbital spacecraft, maybe even getting into space tourism.
They made VTVL technology their main focus. Rockets that could land vertically after launch? That was the goal, and it meant the same rocket could fly again and again.
Carmack and the team also dreamed about orbital spaceflight. Those bigger ambitions put Armadillo among the first commercial ventures trying to drive down launch costs by making rockets reusable.
Between 2001 and the early 2010s, Armadillo Aerospace racked up more than 100 rocket-powered test flights. They experimented with three different propellant combos during that time.
Their fleet boasted around 50 engines across a dozen unique vehicles. All that testing gave them a mountain of data to improve their VTVL systems.
The engineers built several generations of electronics for launch vehicle control. Those systems handled various attitude control tricks on different spacecraft.
Armadillo Aerospace earned some real respect in the aerospace world. They even picked up a few awards for their work on rockets and reusability.
Armadillo Aerospace ran as a privately-held startup. They started in Mesquite, Texas, but later set up shop in places like Caddo Mills and Rockwall.
They filed as Armadillo Aerospace, LLC, giving them some flexibility for all their R&D projects. That LLC structure made sense for the kind of hands-on work they were doing.
The company really leaned into the commercial spaceflight scene. They focused on suborbital research and, eventually, flying passengers.
Their business model revolved around modular spacecraft. That way, they could scale up production as they moved toward commercial flights.
John Carmack took his programming chops and wild ambition from gaming and poured it all into Armadillo, one of America’s boldest private rocket companies. He funded the whole thing himself, which is honestly kind of wild, and stayed hands-on with the tech right from the start.
Carmack co-founded id Software and made games that totally changed the industry. Stuff like Quake set a new bar, and he became a legend in the gaming world. Those hits gave him the money he later funneled into rockets.
He took his programming skills and applied them straight to rocket engineering. Carmack tackled spacecraft with the same problem-solving mindset he used for game engines. That attention to detail and drive for innovation made a real difference in rocket control systems and flight software.
Because he made his money in gaming, Carmack didn’t have to answer to investors. He could take risks and move fast, which is pretty rare in aerospace. That kind of independence turned out to be both an advantage and a bit of a roadblock as the company grew.
Carmack launched Armadillo Aerospace to create reusable rocket technology for commercial flights. He wanted to make space more affordable and reliable, dreaming of rockets that could carry cargo—and people—without breaking the bank. He believed in rapid prototyping and constant testing, figuring that would speed things up way faster than the old-school aerospace approach.
The company zeroed in on suborbital rockets using tried-and-true tech. Carmack wanted to build stuff that worked and could actually make money, like through NASA contracts or commercial missions. He didn’t chase wild, unproven ideas just for the sake of it.
He pushed hard for cost reduction through reusability and simple manufacturing. Carmack saw a lot of overlap between how you build good software and how you iterate on rockets. Build fast, test often, and improve with every run—that was the philosophy.
Carmack kept Armadillo afloat with more than a million dollars a year from his gaming fortune. That let him call the shots, but it also put a cap on how big the company could get. He stayed involved in the engineering side, leading a small, passionate team.
He preferred hands-on work over corporate bureaucracy. But as Armadillo went after bigger NASA contracts, Carmack stepped back a bit and let others handle the day-to-day. That shift slowed things down and took away some of the rapid-fire development that made the company special.
Eventually, the self-funding model hit its limit. When technical setbacks popped up, Carmack didn’t have the deep pockets of competitors like SpaceX. Once he’d spent what he could, he put Armadillo into hibernation instead of bringing in outside investors who might mess with his vision.
Armadillo Aerospace teamed up with government agencies and private groups to push rocket tech forward. They landed NASA contracts for lunar lander development and jumped into racing leagues to show off their vertical takeoff and landing skills.
NASA awarded Armadillo Aerospace several contracts to develop lunar landing tech. The company got funding through NASA’s Lunar Lander Challenge, which aimed to get private companies building moon landing vehicles.
Key NASA Contract Areas:
NASA’s support brought Armadillo not just funding, but also a stamp of technical approval. With NASA’s help, Armadillo fine-tuned their hydrogen peroxide rocket engines and flight control software.
Their work on lunar landers lined up with NASA’s broader moon exploration plans. Armadillo’s VTVL expertise fit right in with what NASA needed for future lunar missions.
Armadillo Aerospace played a big role in the Rocket Racing League, which was basically rocket-powered aircraft racing. They built special racing vehicles to show off their propulsion tech in front of crowds.
The league gave Armadillo a stage to display their rocket engines and flight systems. These races let them push their tech to the limit and grab some media buzz at the same time.
Racing Program Benefits:
By racing, Armadillo could put their rocket tech through its paces and work out the kinks for future commercial spaceflight. The competitions doubled as test flights for their VTVL systems.
Armadillo Aerospace came up with some pretty wild rocket vehicles that really pushed reusable spaceflight forward. Their quad-tank designs stood out in early competitions, the STIG-B rocket reached crazy altitudes, and their lunar landing modules nailed precision control.
Armadillo’s quad vehicle design became their signature look. Four spherical tanks in a unique arrangement—if you saw one fly, you knew it was Armadillo.
Pixel and Texel were the two stars of this design philosophy. Both used the same basic setup but tackled different testing goals.
The quad design ran on a pressure-fed system in blowdown mode. Tank pressure started at 320 psi for Level 1 and hit 400 psi for Level 2. They used cross-fed thrusters for roll control, pulling gas from opposite tanks.
The engineers built a clever propellant transfer system. They could shift fuel between tanks by tweaking ullage pressures with the thrusters. That kept things balanced and saved gas during flight.
The main engine could vector thrust on two axes for tight control. Computer guidance used GPS and fiber optic gyros to keep the rocket stable and on course.
In late 2010, Armadillo rolled out the STIG rocket series for high-altitude tests. They named it after The Stig from Top Gear, which is a fun detail.
STIG-B ditched the spherical tank look for a long, skinny, 15-inch diameter cylindrical tank. That streamlined shape cut down on drag during the climb.
They kept a lot of the same systems and motors from their Super Mod vehicles. But the new shape worked better for hitting really high altitudes.
STIG-B hit 50 miles altitude in 2012, which was a big deal. Sadly, the recovery parachute didn’t open right on the way down. The rocket’s last flight was in January 2013, and another parachute issue led to a hard crash.
That parachute failure was a tough blow for Armadillo. It played a big part in Carmack’s decision to put the company into hibernation later that year.
Armadillo built modular rockets for NASA’s Lunar Lander Challenge. The MOD vehicle was their first shot at a modular spacecraft.
These rockets showed off vertical takeoff and vertical landing—a must for landing on the moon. The onboard computers handled everything, using smart guidance algorithms so humans didn’t have to intervene.
Armadillo entered these modules in several X-Prize Cup events between 2006 and 2009. Early on, they struggled with landing gear failures and guidance problems, so winning wasn’t easy.
In 2008, Armadillo finally won $350,000 in the Level 1 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. Next year, they grabbed another $500,000 by meeting Level 2 goals.
The Super Mod vehicle grew out of these lunar modules. NASA picked it as a possible suborbital reusable launch vehicle for their Flight Opportunities Program. The Super Mod added fairings and partly extendable landing legs to cut drag but kept the modular core.
Armadillo Aerospace made a name for themselves in NASA’s competitions, snagging $350,000 in the Level 1 round and making solid progress in rocket technology. They competed several times in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge from 2008 to 2009.
NASA ran the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge to push commercial space tech forward. The $2 million prize pool got private companies building reusable rocket vehicles.
Armadillo joined the challenge at Las Cruces International Airport in New Mexico. The contest tested whether rockets could really take off, land, and do it all over again—just like a lunar lander would need to.
Competition Requirements:
NASA ran the whole thing under their Centennial Challenges program, which aimed to tap into American ingenuity for space exploration.
Armadillo Aerospace grabbed the $350,000 Level 1 prize in 2008. Their vehicle pulled off all the required maneuvers during the October competition.
The team pulled off some impressive engine reusability, flying multiple times in just a few hours. At the time, this was the biggest prize NASA’s Centennial Challenge program had ever handed out.
Prize Structure:
Armadillo went after the Level 2 challenge with a bigger vehicle built for longer flights. For Level 2, they had to land on simulated lunar terrain littered with craters and rocks.
They didn’t win that round, but they kept chasing the remaining prize money.
Armadillo Aerospace used three main locations during its development. They shifted their main testing to Caddo Mills Municipal Airport, but also ran major demos at Las Cruces International Airport and Spaceport America.
In summer 2008, Armadillo Aerospace moved its main test site to Caddo Mills Municipal Airport in Texas. They left their Dallas site after nearby businesses complained about the noise.
Caddo Mills Airport is about 38 miles from downtown Dallas and just a couple miles off Interstate 30. Phil Eaton found the place by simply driving around Dallas with a GPS until he stumbled on the right spot.
Key Testing Operations:
They leased a big hangar that Southwest Soaring, a sailplane group, had used before. It gave them the space they needed for their growing rockets.
After their first engine test, the local community got curious—and maybe a bit alarmed. Police said 911 calls poured in when folks heard the rocket noise at dusk.
Armadillo started joining community festivals to help neighbors understand what they were up to.
Las Cruces International Airport in New Mexico set the scene for Armadillo Aerospace’s biggest win. They took home the Level 1 Lunar Lander Challenge prize on October 24-25, 2008, and pocketed $350,000.
The competition demanded accurate lunar landing simulations. Armadillo showed their vehicle could hover and land right on target.
Later that year, they made the cut for Level 2 at the same airport. This round called for tougher moves—180-second hovers and landings on fake lunar terrain full of craters and boulders.
These demos showed their tech could handle real mission demands. Their success caught NASA’s eye and brought in some commercial interest.
Spaceport America in New Mexico became Armadillo Aerospace’s high-altitude testing ground. The site offered commercial launch infrastructure with barely any air traffic to worry about.
Armadillo pulled off at least three successful launches at Spaceport America’s Vertical Launch Complex. Their STIG-A rocket program ran suborbital tests here.
Notable Achievements:
John Carmack called Spaceport America an ideal spot for vehicle R&D. The location gave them the altitude and space they needed—something smaller airports just couldn’t offer.
Since 2006, Spaceport America has hosted 13 vertical launches, and Armadillo flew several of those. The site helped them chase their dream of reusable rockets for space tourism.
Armadillo Aerospace earned big recognition by winning the Boeing Lunar Lander Challenge twice, racking up $850,000 in prize money. They also ran into some tough technical problems, like parachute failures and the nasty STIG-B rocket crash in January 2013.
Between 2001 and 2013, Armadillo Aerospace knocked out over 100 rocket-powered test flights. They tried three different fuel combos as they worked to perfect their reusable rockets.
Their biggest win came at the Boeing Lunar Lander Challenge. They took home $350,000 for first prize in 2008 and came back to snag the $500,000 second prize in 2009.
Those wins proved their vertical takeoff and landing tech could deliver. The lunar lander challenges pushed them to master precise control and safe landings.
Prize money kept them going. John Carmack was already putting over $1 million of his own money into the company each year.
Armadillo Aerospace ran into parachute system failures during test flights. Those failures led to rough landings, busted rockets, and delays.
They struggled with propellant management too. Every new fuel mix meant more testing to get things working right.
Engine development didn’t go as smoothly as they’d hoped. Costs just kept climbing. Carmack realized building reusable rockets took specialized materials and precision work.
They didn’t have the manufacturing scale to bring costs down per rocket.
Regulatory headaches slowed them down. Getting FAA approval for experimental flights meant piles of paperwork and safety checks. It dragged out their testing schedule.
The STIG-B rocket crash in January 2013 hit them hard. The main parachute didn’t deploy on landing, and the rocket smashed into the ground.
This wasn’t their first big failure—earlier crashes in 2004 and 2006 had already stretched their resources thin. The ongoing technical problems made it harder to find new investors.
By August 2013, Carmack put Armadillo in “hibernation mode.” He let most full-time staff go and scaled back to bare-bones operations. Only one employee stayed on, with a few others working part-time.
In 2015, they sold their assets to Exos Aerospace. After spending around $8 million over 12 years, Armadillo’s run as an independent company came to an end.
Armadillo Aerospace jumped in as a major player in the suborbital space tourism scene during the NewSpace boom in the 2000s. They went up against big names like Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, and sometimes worked alongside firms like Masten Space Systems in NASA challenges.
Armadillo Aerospace kind of embodied the NewSpace spirit. John Carmack left video game development at id Software to try his hand at rocket building—a pretty wild leap, honestly.
They focused on reusable rocket-powered vehicles for suborbital trips. These ships would take passengers above the Karman line, then bring them back safely.
Armadillo’s vertical launch approach wasn’t like Scaled Composites’ SpaceShipOne, which launched horizontally.
They made deals with Spaceport America in New Mexico, signing a five-year agreement. Armadillo aimed at several markets: space tourism, research, and even microgravity manufacturing.
Their plan was frequent, affordable flights—unlike the big aerospace contractors.
They joined NASA’s commercial programs, hoping to prove private space companies could be serious players, not just government agencies.
Competition in the suborbital world was fierce. Blue Origin worked on similar vertical launch vehicles with New Shepard. Virgin Galactic went with a different model, launching SpaceShipTwo from a carrier plane.
Masten Space Systems played both sides—sometimes a rival, sometimes a collaborator. Both firms fought for the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X Challenge prizes in 2008 and 2009, pushing each other to improve.
XCOR Aerospace was also in the mix with its Lynx spaceplane concept. These companies were the regulars at industry events like the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference.
SpaceX wasn’t really in the suborbital game—they chased orbital flights—but their success showed private space companies could go toe-to-toe with the old guard.
Exos Aerospace later picked up some of Armadillo’s tech and ideas. All this competition sped up innovation for everyone.
Armadillo Aerospace teamed up with big space tourism companies and put together flight service proposals aimed at making suborbital trips more affordable.
Armadillo Aerospace signed an exclusive marketing deal with Space Adventures, a well-known space tourism company from Virginia. Space Adventures got dibs on selling commercial seats on Armadillo’s future flights.
It was kind of like what Space Adventures already did with Russian Soyuz seats. They brought their customer base and marketing chops to the table.
Armadillo also set up a joint venture with Rocket Racing Inc. and the New Mexico government. Together, they planned a full suborbital tourism operation, pooling resources and know-how.
The plan? Launch a fleet of reusable Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) vehicles. This would let them fly several times a day and keep costs down compared to single-use rockets.
Armadillo pitched suborbital space tourism flights for $100,000 per ticket or less. That would undercut some competitors and, hopefully, still turn a profit.
Their plans leaned on their vertical takeoff and landing tech, so they didn’t need runways and could operate from smaller spaceports.
They designed their vehicles with reusability in mind, trying to cut costs per flight. The ships would take passengers over the Karman line—100 kilometers up—so folks could float in zero gravity for a few minutes and see the curve of the Earth.
The whole trip would last about 15 minutes, from launch to landing.
Armadillo Aerospace worked under tight Federal Aviation Administration rules during its push for commercial spaceflight. They hit some big regulatory milestones and kept up strong safety compliance across their launches.
The FAA gave Armadillo Aerospace its first operator launch license through the Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA/AST). That was a big step for them.
Before that, Armadillo got three launch permits for their lunar lander vehicles. Those permits let them run test flights and build their regulatory resume.
Getting licensed wasn’t easy. They had to submit loads of paperwork and prove their vehicles were safe.
Key regulatory requirements included:
The FAA/AST rules cover all commercial space launches and reentries in the U.S. Companies have to show they’ll protect public safety and property before they can launch.
Armadillo Aerospace showed a real dedication to regulatory compliance, flying more than a dozen FAA/AST-permitted missions. These flights made it clear they took safety protocols and regulations seriously.
They kept detailed records for every test flight and all the tweaks made to their vehicles. For every launch, the team got FAA approval and followed strict safety steps.
Armadillo’s approach relied on thorough vehicle testing and solid quality control. They even used x-ray inspections to check the welding joints and make sure the structure held up.
Compliance activities included:
Their regulatory experience really put Armadillo on the map as a mature commercial space operator. The company’s compliance record showed they were ready for bigger operations and commercial service.
When Armadillo Aerospace shut down operations in 2013, some of the former employees jumped in and started Exos Aerospace. Their goal? Keep Armadillo’s tech alive and keep pushing reusable launch systems forward.
This handoff kept all that research and hardware in play for the commercial space industry.
Exos Aerospace got its start in May 2014, with several ex-Armadillo folks leading the charge. They set up shop at Caddo Mills Municipal Airport in Texas, right where Armadillo used to work.
By early 2015, Exos had finished buying Armadillo’s assets—equipment, intellectual property, and everything else needed to keep going.
This move saved years of R&D work that would’ve just gathered dust. Armadillo had poured a lot into reusable rocket tech before things stalled out after the STIG-B rocket crash in August 2013.
The founding team brought hands-on knowledge from Armadillo’s programs. Their experience let Exos pick up where Armadillo left off instead of starting over.
Exos kept developing and testing rockets in Texas, using the same facilities Armadillo had used for years.
Exos Aerospace pushed forward with Armadillo’s reusable spacecraft ideas. They built the SARGE rocket system, which they flew and recovered several times.
This shift kept Armadillo’s mission of affordable suborbital access alive. Exos kept working on reusable launch vehicles for research, education, and commercial customers.
Exos didn’t stop there. They developed new cryogenic tank tech and started exploring air-launched orbital vehicles.
The FAA gave Exos a license to operate reusable rockets. That put them in rare company—only SpaceX and Blue Origin had that authorization at the time.
These days, Exos partners with universities and research groups. They offer suborbital flight services through platforms like Precious Payload, keeping Armadillo’s dream of accessible space research going.
In August 2013, John Carmack told the world that Armadillo Aerospace was going into “hibernation mode.” The company had hit funding challenges and ran into operational setbacks. Their suspension really highlighted how tough commercial spaceflight can be and showed what the broader space tourism industry was up against.
John Carmack made the announcement at QuakeCon in Dallas on August 1, 2013. He explained that Armadillo Aerospace had stopped active work on reusable launch vehicles while they looked for new investors.
The company kept only a skeleton crew. Carmack said they needed “someone with a few million dollars who wants to build rockets” to get things moving again.
Key factors leading to hibernation included:
Carmack admitted he had “let his hands off the wheel” as things got rough. He’d funded most of the company himself but couldn’t keep it up forever.
The news came after months of silence from Armadillo. They’d skipped industry conferences like the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference, while rivals like Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic stayed active.
Hitting the pause button showed just how hard it is for early commercial space companies. Armadillo Aerospace had come “tantalizingly close” to making suborbital rockets work but couldn’t quite nail the business side.
Carmack’s style focused on technical breakthroughs, not business growth. The team mostly built engines and rockets for the challenge and fun, not just to chase profits.
Some tough lessons came out of Armadillo’s experience:
Competitors who raised more money or found new revenue streams had a better shot. Virgin Galactic pulled in big investors, and SpaceX branched out beyond just space tourism.
Armadillo’s hibernation made it clear—space tourism is risky. Even the most talented teams can run into trouble if the funding or business plan isn’t there.
Armadillo Aerospace operated from 2000 to 2013. They developed reusable rocket tech, competed in lunar landing challenges, and pioneered vertical takeoff and landing systems. John Carmack’s company racked up some serious technical wins, all on a modest $3.5 million budget.
Armadillo Aerospace set out to build crewed suborbital spacecraft for space tourism. They wanted to make space accessible for regular folks by using reusable rocket tech.
John Carmack founded the company with plans to eventually reach orbit. The team believed they could deliver affordable space tourism with simpler designs and modern computer controls.
In 2010, Armadillo signed an exclusive deal with Space Adventures. That partnership could have let tourists fly on Armadillo rockets into suborbital space.
The company built vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) systems that set a new bar for the industry. Their rockets could land right back on the launch pad.
Armadillo created more than 12 types of vehicles using about 50 engine designs. They flew over 100 rocket flights during their testing.
They moved fast—designing, building, testing, and then iterating on failures. The team learned quickly from each launch.
They used modern computer technology to control their rockets, making them simpler and cheaper than old-school designs.
The Mod vehicle series was their most successful. These rockets could hover and land exactly where they wanted.
Pixel and Texel, their early quad vehicles, competed in lunar landing challenges. Both relied on computer-controlled jet vanes for steering instead of fins.
The Super Mod added fairings and stronger landing legs. NASA even considered this one for their suborbital research flights.
The STIG rocket series aimed for high altitudes. In 2012, STIG-B climbed 50 miles up, officially reaching space.
Armadillo won $350,000 in the 2008 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge Level 1. They nailed both flight legs with pinpoint landings.
In 2009, they took home another $500,000 by winning Level 2. Their Mod vehicle flew for over 180 seconds on each leg.
One STIG rocket hit 50 miles altitude in 2012, which counts as spaceflight by U.S. standards.
The Rocket Racing League chose Armadillo engines for their X-Racer. Their engines pushed 2,500 pounds of thrust using liquid oxygen and ethanol.
Armadillo ran on a shoestring budget compared to others. They spent just $3.5 million, while Scaled Composites dropped $25 million on SpaceShipOne.
They always picked simplicity over raw performance. Using hydrogen peroxide and methanol meant they could keep the systems simple.
John Carmack funded almost everything himself, skipping big investors. Early team members worked part-time, often after hours.
Their rockets were purposely aerodynamically unstable. Instead of fins, they trusted computer systems to steer the flight path.
Back in 2014, some former Armadillo folks got together and started Exos Aerospace. They picked up Armadillo’s assets and kept working on the SARGE rocket.
Armadillo really set the stage with their VTVL landing tech. Now, companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin use landing methods that look a lot like what Armadillo tried first.
Their habit of testing quickly and not being afraid to fail left a mark. These days, most space startups seem to chase that “fail fast, learn faster” mindset.
Honestly, Armadillo showed everyone that small, scrappy teams can pull off big technical leaps. That inspired plenty of other entrepreneurs to launch space companies, even if their budgets were tight.
