Impulse Space secures $45 million to support vehicle development, production

Photo Credit: Impulse Space

Impulse Space Inc. (Redondo Beach, Calif., U.S.), a developer of in-space transportation services and vehicles for the inner solar system, announced it raised $45 million in Series A funding, led by RTX Ventures, the venture capital arm of Raytheon Technologies (RTX, Arlington, Va., U.S.).

“With the support from RTX Ventures, Impulse Space continues on the path toward its mission to provide agile, economic logistics services in any orbit,” says Impulse Space founder and CEO Tom Mueller. “It speaks volumes that a leading investment firm is confident in the future of Impulse Space and its trailblazing technology.”

Orbital service vehicles, CFRP tanks

Impulse Space is developing orbital service vehicles that can, for example, transport satellites from low-Earth orbit (LEO) to medium-Earth orbit (MEO), GEO, the moon or even Mars. They can also provide assistance in cases of malfunction.

“They are launched like you would launch a satellite,” says Impulse Space COO, Barry Matsumori. “Composites definitely help achieve a more optimized mass fraction. We pay the launch provider for every kilogram of mass that is launched, so we are incentivized to reduce weight.”

These vehicles will use either Type V linerless or Type III aluminum tanks overwrapped with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite to store non-cryogenic nitrous oxide and ethane as the oxidizer and propellant.

For small vehicles, tank size will start at roughly 0.5 meter long and 0.33 meter in diameter.

With an oversubscribed funding round, Impulse Space will be continuing its progress with its work in upcoming missions, such as LEO Express-1, a geostationary equatorial orbit (GEO) refueling mission and the upcoming mission to Mars. Specifically, this funding will support the development of Impulse’s largest vehicle yet, called Helios. The Helios kick stage enables direct to GEO missions, thus bypassing the need for a geostationary transfer orbit.

“RTX Ventures invests in companies that we believe provide breakthrough technologies that disrupt aerospace, defense and commercial aviation sectors,” says president and managing director Daniel Ateya at RTX Ventures. “Our investment will help Impulse Space accelerate their growth and fuel innovation within the space economy.”

The Series A funding round also included other participant investors, such as Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Airbus Ventures and Space Capital.