Unlocking 'the true space age': Impulse Space raises $500 million to build out fleet of ultra-mobile spacecraft

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Impulse Space just got a lot more money to help finance its big ambitions in the final frontier.

The California-based company — which was founded in 2021 by propulsion expert Tom Mueller, the first person Elon Musk ever hired at SpaceX — announced today (June 2) that it has raised $500 million in a "Series D" investment round. It will use the funds to scale up the production and deployment of its ultra-mobile spacecraft, which Impulse Space thinks will help transform the off-Earth economy.

"We're building more than spacecraft; we're building the economic and technical engine that will power humanity's expansion into space," Mueller, who's also Impulse Space's CEO, said in a statement today. "From Earth orbit to the moon and beyond, the ability to move quickly, precisely and affordably on orbit is the fundamental capability that will unlock a true space age."

Over the past decade or so, it has become much cheaper and more efficient to launch payloads to space, thanks to companies like SpaceX and Rocket Lab.

But moving around once you're in the final frontier remains a relatively difficult and costly proposition — and that's where Impulse Space hopes to come in. The company aims to provide "advanced in-space mobility," allowing payloads to be placed more precisely and cost-effectively, repurposed more efficiently and perform a wider variety of jobs.

Such a capability would be momentous, according to Mueller, who led the teams that developed SpaceX's workhorse Merlin engine and Draco thruster back in the day.

"I think right now is really the start of what I call the true space age, with a very low-cost rocket to get access to space and companies like mine that are gonna make moving around in space much more affordable, much more reliable, much more accessible," Mueller told Space.com.

Rockets are like container ships, which carry cargo most of the way to its destination, he explained. But those big ships can't do all the work; after they dock, trains, trucks and vans are still needed to get the goods the rest of the way. And Impulse Space wants to be the chief provider of this last-leg transportation.

The company has designed a line of engines and spacecraft to help make this dream a reality. Building everything in house was a very intentional decision, one shaped by Mueller's nearly two decades at SpaceX.

"A lot of that I took here," he told Space.com. "You know, being vertically integrated, having a proven, really energized team, and this RE mindset — the responsible engineer. Extreme ownership is a super important part of our culture, and that's all the stuff that's made SpaceX so successful."