Impulse Space has raised a massive new round of funding as big investors bet that moving satellites into orbit will soon be a service in high demand.
The startup, which was founded by Tom Mueller three years ago, announced a $150 million Series B round on Tuesday. Impulse is developing a line of orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) that can adjust satellite positions in space after they are launched by a rocket. While a handful of other firms are working on OTV, Impulse says its products are differentiated for their chemical propulsion systems that offer very high delta-v, or velocity variation, capability.
The company has announced two OTVs so far: Mira, to provide last-mile deliveries for spacecraft launched during trip-share launches, and a larger, high-energy impact stage called Helios to move the spacecraft from low Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit (GEO) in less than 24 hours. This is much faster than existing options, which are either more expensive, like paying for a SpaceX Falcon Heavy to fly directly to GEO or Rocket Lab for an Electron rocket to launch you into a precise orbit, or require time, with lower delta. V pushes to GEO over months.
“The satellite market requires enhanced maneuverability and rapid on-orbit response, which requires Impulse Space’s powerful, high-delta-v vehicles,” Founding Fund partner Scott Nolan said in a statement. “Tom has built a team with deep expertise, innovating in mission-critical technologies, positioning the company to reliably deliver as it leads the future of space transportation.”
Mueller is well-known in the space industry: He was a founding employee of SpaceX and eventually became CTO of propulsion, where he led the development of the Merlin rocket engine that powers the Falcon 9 rocket and the Draco thrusters that power the Dragon spacecraft. He left SpaceX in November 2020 and founded Impulse less than a year later.
Since then the company has marked a number of important milestones, including a successful first mission that flew in November 2023. LEO Express-1 saw Mira enter orbit for the first time; The mission ended after nine months, during which time Mira successfully deployed a customer payload and completed the longest orbital lift (150 kilometers in 75 seconds) by an OTV on its inaugural flight, the company said.
There are strong signals that the Defense Department is also interested in the capability: Impulse scored a number of awards from the US Space Force earlier this year, including two Small Business Innovation and Research grants under the Force initiative for Responsible Tactical Space. This program is designed to seek capabilities from private industry that can enable the Space Force to move faster into orbit.
The startup has grown to over 140 people, with operations based primarily in a 60,000-square-foot facility in Redondo Beach, California.
Impulse is now focused on its second mission, LEO Express-2, which will see Mira deploy and receive payloads for multiple unnamed customers later this year. An upgraded version of Mira will make its first launch in 2025, with Helios making its first flight in 2026.
The round was led by Founders Fund and includes participation from existing investors Lux Capital and Spring Tide, as well as new investors such as DCVC. Other participants include 137 Ventures, Airbus Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Balerion Space Ventures, Elysium, First Principles Group, Island Green, Overmatch, RTX Ventures, Tamarack Global and Trousdale Ventures.
The new funding follows a $45 million Series A that closed in July 2023.