Impulse Space raises $500 million as orbital maneuvering race heats up

Getting around space, as it turns out, is kind of a big deal. On Tuesday, Impulse Space, a company dedicated to improving space mobility, announced it has raised $500 million in Series D funding. Since it was founded five years ago by SpaceX veteran Tom Mueller, the company has now raised more than $1 billion. “Timing is everything,” Mueller said in an interview about the new round of funding. By this, he means the company has found its way into a lot of markets. Since 2001, the company has already flown three missions with a small spacecraft, Mira, which was first launched in 2023 with a novel propulsion system powered by non-toxic propellants, nitrous oxide and ethane. It has customers lined up. After Impulse announced its much larger “Helios” kick stage, demand was higher than anticipated from commercial customers. The US Space Force has become increasingly interested in satellite mobility, and now Impulse Space also believes it can provide landing services in the “1-ton-class” to NASA for its new Moon Base initiative. Mobility is key Company officials said they were not necessarily looking for new funding, but investors wanted them to capitalize on these emerging opportunities by growing to meet demand. “It’s all happening now,” said Eric Romo, the company’s president and chief operating officer. “And I think that’s going to continue, and the market’s going to continue to find exciting new things. …