MG-J26-T
The recovery test. Eight minutes of microgravity. Same-day return. The validation Horizon needs.
Suborbital test ahead of Horizon.
Pathfinder is Martian Grow's first recovery test. A passive Cannabis sativa L. payload flew on a sounding rocket from Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden, launched 31 May 2026 at 06:33 UTC.
The flight profile: ascent through atmosphere, apogee at approximately 260 kilometers, eight minutes of microgravity, controlled reentry, recovery on the Esrange range. Same-day turn. The whole envelope — launch, exposure, reentry, recovery — closed inside one operational window.
The recovery chain, end to end.
MG-J25 left a load-bearing question open: can the seeds come back. Pathfinder is the first time the recovery chain ran clean with a Martian Grow payload on board. Same-day samples and footage in hand.
Capsule integrity
Reentry capsule completed ascent, microgravity exposure, atmospheric reentry, and landing without anomaly.
Recovery protocol
Same-day recovery on the Esrange range. Capsule located, secured, and offloaded inside the operational window.
Payload integration
GEN-3p passive payload module accepted the MG segment cleanly. Pre-flight and post-flight handover paths worked.
Post-flight analysis chain
Biological samples, flight data, and onboard footage returned to Earth and entered analysis on schedule.
One operational window.
The suborbital answer to an orbital question.
Pathfinder was a deliberately scoped test. Eight minutes of microgravity is not the science window Horizon needs — the genetic baseline mission requires nine months. But the recovery chain Horizon depends on is the same chain Pathfinder validated: capsule integrity, controlled reentry, payload return in hand.
The post-MG-J25 redesign called for proving the recovery loop before committing the orbital baseline. That proof is now on the record.