Atlas Cup launches world's first professional orbital sport, inaugural championship races to be held in Low Earth Orbit in 2028

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlas Cup, the first professional sport to operate in space, today announces its inaugural championship to be held in 2028. Founded in late 2025, Atlas Cup is a premier professional sports media property featuring uncrewed spacecraft competing in the fastest sport in history. Showcasing cutting edge space technologies and awe-inspiring race formats, Atlas Cup introduces orbital sport by leveraging the heritage of classic racing competitions like America's Cup and Formula One to delight sports fans and bring competitive sport firmly into the 21st century.

"Atlas Cup will do for the space industry what professional racing did for the automotive industry," said Philip Hover-Smoot, CEO of Atlas Cup. "It's time for space to be a source of inspiration again, and Atlas Cup is engineered to capture the extraordinary potential of space and deliver it to audiences across the world."

Orbital sport emerges at a moment of structural change. Like the early days of the automotive industry, the rapid expansion of the new space economy is bringing tremendous opportunity. But, as the commercial space sector expands, operators face a fragmented and unproven supplier ecosystem with limited objective performance data. Atlas Cup introduces direct competition as both spectacle and instrument - creating compelling entertainment while generating an unparalleled dataset on spacecraft and component performance.

Global sports media is also undergoing its own rapid transformation. Next-generation engagement and cord-cutting are pressuring traditional models and premium content remains in high demand. Atlas Cup is uniquely positioned to lead in this new environment because orbital racing addresses both trends simultaneously, celebrating the leaders of the new space economy while producing awe inspiring never before seen sports content designed natively for social, mobile, and streaming channels.

Built on proven technologies and powered by a partnership model that externalizes traditional technical and regulatory risks, Atlas Cup establishes a new frontier for global sport. "How do you know your system is the best?" added Hover-Smoot. "You win, in orbit. Head-to-head racing in space has never been done before. But when we combine the epic visuals of space with the magic of racing, we're going to get something truly special."

About Atlas Cup

Atlas Cup was founded in late 2025 by longtime industry executive and space industry investor Philip Hover-Smoot, who served most recently as CEO of Scout Space, a leading provider of secure in-space optics solutions to the U.S. Government. Prior to that Philip served in senior executive roles at Spaceflight (acquired by Firefly Aerospace) and Momentus (a publicly listed space infrastructure firm). With the support of a team of advisors spread across sports, entertainment, and space, Atlas Cup has partners across sports media, space, and technology.

More info at atlascup.com.

Media Contact

Atlas Cup, Inc.

Philip Hover-Smoot

connect@atlascup.com

+1.415.347.1377

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