editorial

Impulse Space has raised $300 million in a Series C funding round—one of the largest venture rounds in the history of the space industry—the round, led by Linse Capital, brings Impulse’s total capital raised to $525 million.

The pre-emptive raise is both a positive signal about Impulse’s business trajectory and a direct response to surging customer demand. With more than 30 signed contracts (totaling nearly $200 million in value) and growing interest from every sector, Impulse will use the funding to scale and execute a backlog of missions that require faster, more flexible, and more cost-effective in-space mobility.

This Series C funding will accelerate Impulse’s mission in three key ways:

• Growing headcount across engineering, manufacturing, and mission operations while continuing to vertically integrate for cost, quality, and schedule control.
• Accelerating R&D to expand mission profiles—including integrating electric propulsion for long-duration missions—and develop new vehicles for national security and NASA applications.
• Scaling production on Mira and Helios to meet a growing backlog of demand.

Since the company’s founding in 2021, Impulse has quietly built a track record of technical achievement, successful missions, and commercial momentum. Led by Tom Mueller, a SpaceX founding member and the architect behind the Merlin engine family, Impulse is powered by a veteran team with a proven history of designing, testing, and delivering. This raise is more than capital—it affirms Impulse’s emergence as the front runner for in-space mobility.

In less than four years, Impulse Space has already:

• Built and flown Mira—a high-thrust, highly maneuverable space vehicle for payload hosting and deployment—on two successful customer missions.
• Executed what is believed to be the two largest orbital maneuvers ever by a nitrous-based propulsion system.
• Secured more than 30 commercial and government contracts.
• Developed Helios—a high-energy kick stage to rapidly deliver payloads to MEO, GEO, and beyond—on track to fly in 2026.
• Launched a roadmap for a customizable GEO Rideshare Program, debuting in 2027.

Missions across all sectors—commercial, defense, and civil—are requiring unprecedented levels of in-space mobility. Commercial operators need faster, more cost-effective ways to deploy and reposition satellites. Defense agencies require tactically responsive capabilities to stay ahead of evolving threats. Civil missions depend on precise, flexible movement to support Earth Observation (EO) and deep space exploration—often on tight timelines and limited budgets. All of these sectors need mobility on demand.

Impulse’s team and proven track record is answering the call with its fleet of space vehicles designed to deliver reliable, cost-effective, and rapid transportation within, and across, orbits.

This raise comes as demand for Impulse’s vehicles skyrockets across the orbital economy. With Linse Capital leading, the round also includes participation from new investor DFJ Growth, as well as returning investors Valor Equity Partners, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, RTX Ventures, DCVC, Airbus Ventures, Spring Tide, First Principles Group, Balerion Space Ventures, Tamarack Global, and Trousdale Ventures.

We’ve proven that we can build fast and fly successfully. Now, the market is demanding more,” said Mueller, CEO and founder. “This raise helps us scale production and technical capabilities to meet that demand head-on. Achieving a true space age is going to require new levels of in-space mobility to move payloads quickly and precisely, both within and between orbits. That capability is what we’re building at Impulse.”

Impulse is tackling one of the most technically demanding challenges in aerospace with a speed and precision we rarely see,” said Bastiaan Janmaat, Managing Partner at Linse Capital. “Their vertically integrated approach, proven track record, and ability to execute quickly in this market give them a real advantage. We’re excited to support their vision as they build the infrastructure that will power the next generation of space missions.”

Exolaunch and INNOSPACE have signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) to collaborate on launch integration services and broaden access to orbit for global satellite customers.

Through this agreement, Exolaunch and INNOSPACE will work together on launch manifest planning, mission management and payload integration for upcoming commercial launch campaigns. Exolaunch will provide its flight-proven separation systems for cubesats and microsatellites (smallsats), with its hardware positioned as the deployment solution for INNOSPACE customers across dedicated and rideshare missions.

The partnership also includes the use of Exolaunch’s EXOtube, a modular and scalable launch platform designed to optimize multi-payload configurations, increase mission flexibility, and enhance vehicle utilization. The teams will further collaborate on launch campaign planning, system integration, and on-site execution support.

Exolaunch’s mission heritage includes more than 530 satellites deployed across 36 missions, with customers ranging from leading commercial operators and startups to space agencies, leading universities and research institutions. INNOSPACE is currently ramping up launch services with the HANBIT series powered by hybrid and methane engines.

We’re proud to partner and formalize our work with INNOSPACE to bring new flexibility and reliability to global customers seeking access to orbit,” said Jeanne Allarie, Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer at Exolaunch. “Our separation hardware and mission services are designed to scale across launch vehicle platforms, and this partnership supports our commitment to enabling global launch diversity. We look forward to launching with the HANBIT series in the near future.”

Exolaunch’s hardware heritage and integration experience make them an ideal partner as we expand INNOSPACE’s launch cadence and international customer base,” said Soojong Kim, founder and CEO of INNOSPACE. “This collaboration will help us deliver smooth, safe, and efficient launch campaigns for a growing range of payload configurations.”

Colt Technology Services (Colt), Honeywell and Nokia are collaborating to explore quantum-safe networking using SATCOM.

As part of the initiative, the companies are planning to test new ways of protecting encrypted optical network traffic from risks presented when quantum computing potentially breaks through traditional encryption methods, leaving data vulnerable to cyber threats.

Traditional encryption methods, or cryptography, rely on complex mathematical problems that are difficult for computers to solve, but quantum computers are expected to solve these problems faster, potentially breaking through traditional encryption methods and putting data at risk.

One promising advancement in this field is quantum key distribution (QKD), a technology central to the quantum evolution. However, QKD currently faces a major limitation: terrestrial physical constraints restrict its range to around 100 kilometers. To achieve global coverage of QKD, the technology can overcome these limitations by moving into space.

Colt, Honeywell and Nokia plan to explore quantum-safe cryptography, trialling space-based and subsea techniques which are resistant to quantum computing attacks.

The companies will trial quantum key distribution—a method used to securely share encryption keys between two parties—using LEO satellites for ultra-long distances and transatlantic reach. The three companies share a collective goal: enable customers to benefit from the huge potential of quantum computing in ways that help solve pressing challenges, while protecting them from risk.

This trial is expected to be of interest to organisations responsible for vast amounts of highly sensitive data such as financial firms, healthcare and pharmaceutical organisations and government bodies. Before the trial, Colt, Honeywell and Nokia have drafted a white paper with more detail on the risks, threats and opportunities presented by quantum cryptography. The paper, entitled ’The Journey to Quantum-Safe Networking’ is available for download at this direct link…

Fundamental to the collaboration between Colt, Honeywell and Nokia is a shared passion and determination to push the boundaries of technology to find solutions which safeguard our customers and help them succeed. At Colt, we do everything we can to make life easier for our customers. It’s why we’re taking action now to protect our customers from future cybersecurity risks, tackling tomorrow’s threats, today,” said Buddy Bayer, chief operating officer, Colt Technology Services.

With over five decades of aerospace expertise, Honeywell has witnessed and adapted to the evolution of the global communications landscape. We are proud to continue as a leader in innovating future-proof solutions such as the QEYSSat and QKDSat missions for the quantum era. This collaboration represents a significant step forward in securing the future of critical data: designing solutions to enhance resilience, ensuring long-term data security for critical infrastructure and communications systems,” said Lisa Napolitano, vice president and general manager, Space, Honeywell Aerospace Technologies.

Airbus Defence and Space, the French Space Agency (CNES), and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), have signed a Declaration of Intent (DoI) to strengthen their longstanding cooperation in the field of Earth Observation (EO), building on the success of the VNREDSat-1 space program.

This agreement reaffirms the three parties’ shared ambition to develop and implement the next generation of EO satellite systems in support of Vietnam’s climate change mitigation, disaster monitoring, and natural resource management.

Airbus and VAST will pursue deeper technical cooperation to ensure the continued performance of VNREDSat-1, while jointly exploring a future program, using advanced satellite technologies developed by CNES and Airbus under the CO3D constellation. The DoI also paves the way for comprehensive definition of a training and transfer of technologies solution as part of this program.

As part of this broader collaboration, CNES and VAST intend to expand their scientific and technical exchange in areas such as EO data while exploring the development of targeted applications based on shared data sets, and supporting capacity-building programs

The partnership continues the spirit of collaboration established with the launch of VNREDSat-1 by Airbus in 2013. The satellite, which has doubled its expected lifetime, under the operation of VAST, marked a major milestone in Vietnam’s space journey and continues to deliver valuable EO data for scientific and environmental applications.

Stéphane Vesval, Senior Vice President Sales Space Systems, Airbus Defence and Space, said, “The renewed cooperation between Airbus, CNES and VAST reflects a clear dedication to long-term partnerships that build sovereign capabilities and deliver meaningful societal value. We are proud to continue supporting Vietnam’s vision of becoming a leading spacefaring nation in Southeast Asia, and we look forward to enabling the future evolution of the VNREDSat program.”

Space Norway, Northern Europe’s leading satellite operator, has signed an agreement with Starlink by SpaceX to provide Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity services starting with immediate effect.

This contract further extends the company’s strategy of offering multi-orbit infrastructure combining geostationary (GEO), Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) and LEO satellites.

The Starlink satellite constellation will enable Space Norway to provide low-latency LEO services to maritime mobility clients globally as well as land-based enterprise clients throughout the EMEA region.

The Starlink LEO service is set to roll out in the coming weeks and will be supported by Space Norway’s customer portal, allowing clients to effectively manage their service by monitoring usage, as well as upgrading and downgrading their service. Clients will be able to purchase the necessary hardware to run Starlink services directly from Space Norway.

Jan Hetland, Space Norway’s Director, Data Services, said, “This agreement allows Space Norway to complement its leading maritime mobility services, and will significantly enhance critical connectivity for our land-based enterprise customers. With Starlink’s cutting-edge LEO network and commitment to technological innovation, we are delighted to deliver resilient, world-class connectivity to both current and new clients. Our expert engineering team and 24/7 support desk are dedicated to ensuring seamless integration and continuous service excellence for our customers’ connectivity needs.”

Space Norway’s CEO, Morten Tengs, said, “This agreement as an Authorized Starlink Reseller marks a significant milestone in our journey toward becoming a comprehensive multi-orbit service provider. By leveraging Starlink’s advanced LEO satellite network, we are positioned to deliver enhanced value to our diverse clients worldwide.”

Celestia has announced that it has successfully completed the testing of its multi-beam Ka-band gateway with JoeySat, marking a major milestone in the evolution of satellite communications infrastructure. The system has been operational for nine months without the need for maintenance, reinforcing its robustness, reliability and performance in real world conditions.

The testing carried out by the Celestia team demonstrated the gateway’s ability to communicate successfully with spacecraft over an extended duration, highlighting the benefits of its design, which eliminates the need for moving parts. The system has been shown to be effective across a range of climate conditions, further validating its long-term viability.

With this successful demonstration complete, Celestia is now advancing towards production capability, ready to offer a field-proven, resilient and efficient Ka-band gateway solution for next-generation satellite communications capable of tracking and communicating with up to 28 satellites simultaneously.

The development of this breakthrough technology was supported through the ESA Connectivity and Secure Communications Directorate’s Sunrise Partnership Project and received funding from European Space Agency – ESA and the UK Space Agency. The project was made possible through collaboration with key industry partners, including Eutelsat OneWeb, MDA Space and the Dundee Ground Station.

This achievement underscores the strength of our Ka-band gateway technology, paving the way for broader deployment,” said Dr. Malachy Devlin, Celestia CEO. “A maintenance-free system with high reliability and operational efficiency is a game-changer for the satellite industry, and we are excited to take the next step towards production capability.”

The extensive testing of the gateway multi-beam electronic antenna system with JoeySat orbiting at different altitudes, in challenging conditions, has proven the robustness of this innovative technology, providing an attractive solution for constellations where a high number of satellites are visible from a single point on Earth,” said Nicolas Girault from ESA.up-uk

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has invested $50 million into Firefly Aerospace to further advance production of the companies’ co-developed medium launch vehicle, now known as Eclipse.

Filling a void in an underserved market, Eclipse will launch up to 16,300 kg of cargo to Low Earth Orbit or 3,200 kg of cargo to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. Eclipse will first launch from Wallops Island, Virginia, and be able to support space station resupply, commercial spacecraft, critical national security missions and scientific payloads for the domestic and international markets.

Built on Northrop Grumman’s Antares and Firefly’s Alpha rocket, Eclipse offers a significant leap in power, performance, production cadence and payload capacity. The launch vehicle retains the flight-proven avionics from Antares while delivering additional performance upgrades, including a larger 5.4 meter-class payload fairing. Eclipse also retains a scaled-up version of Alpha’s propulsion systems and carbon composite structures, allowing the team to rapidly build and test Eclipse with significant production efficiencies and economies of scale.

Firefly used the same patented tap-off cycle architecture from Alpha’s Reaver and Lightning engines for Eclipse’s Miranda and Vira engines, and completed mission duty cycle with a 206-second Miranda hot fire test, matching the longest time the engine will burn during a flight. Following several development test campaigns, flight hardware has been manufactured for the common dome propellant tanks, engine bay and interstage.

Eclipse is manufactured in Briggs, Texas, and Chandler, Arizona, and uses the same first stage Firefly is developing for the Northrop Grumman Antares 330 rocket. Both launch vehicles will use seven of Firefly’s Miranda engines.

Eclipse qualification testing is underway, with flight hardware developed, more than 60 Miranda engine hot fire tests performed to date and a targeted first launch no earlier than 2026.

Wendy Williams, vice president and general manager, launch and missile defense systems, Northrop Grumman, said, “Eclipse gives customers the right balance of payload capacity and affordability. Our partnership with Firefly builds on our capacity to provide crucial spaced-based communication, observation, and exploration for civil and national security customers.”

Jason Kim, CEO, Firefly Aerospace, said, “Firefly is incredibly grateful for Northrop Grumman’s investment that further solidifies our first-of-its-kind partnership to build the first stage of Antares 330 and jointly develop Eclipse. Eclipse represents two powerful forces coming together to transform the launch market, with decades of flight heritage and a rapid, iterative approach and bold innovation. With a 16 metric ton to orbit capability, Eclipse is a sweet spot for programs like NSSL Lane 1 and a natural fit to launch proliferated constellations in LEO, MEO, GEO and TLI.”

By Chris Forrester

Noel Rimalovski (Managing Director, GH Partners) moderated this key panel at the SmallSat Europe conference held at the RAI Congress Centre in Amsterdam on May 28. With his panel he examined the role of Ground Segment and the position of standards and innovation in the sector. He opened by saying that once it was geostationary operators who tended to have their own dedicated systems. 

Harek Gamst (Director Sales and Marketing, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS). Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace is one of three business units of Kongsberg Gruppen of Norway and a supplier of defence and space related systems and products. In some cases, he said, politics sometimes comes into play as regards the operating ground system and whether it is owned privately or by government.

Ryan Conroy (VP of Business Development, Elve Speed). Elve is pioneering advancements in millimeter wave amplifiers to transform high-bandwidth communications, sensing, and other advanced applications. Conroy said that the recent ‘tariff’ problems out of the Oval Office had not impacted business. 

Paul Gouws (CTO, ETL Systems Ltd). ETL Systems designs and manufactures RF equipment for critical satellite communications, and trusted by the top 20 satellite operators and teleports. He said the growth drivers were the demand for data, and we anticipate new entrants using new Q and V frequency bands. IRIS² is also on our radar. We try and operate agnostically and thus supporting different waveforms and moving away from very specific hardware.

Ron Faith (President & CEO, RBC Signals). RBC Signals offer simplified communications and monitoring in VHF, UHF, L, S, C, X, Ku, Ka and optical bands. He said there was today increased spending by governments, but there was also interest from independent nations who wanted their own systems in place. There was also growing interest from new applications whether Earth observation, for example, and where the operator needed their own ground service. However, there were also instances where some operators were exiting how they structured. Eutelsat’s recent move was an indicator of this trend, and which also allowed them to raise capital. 

Ludovic Court (Head of Sales & Marketing, Leaf Space). Milan-based Leaf Space is a preferred ground segment service provider for both government and commercial markets. He said that customers were increasingly leaning towards owning their own services, but others were happy to leave the ground segment to independent operators especially when you consider the regulations and licensing. 

The panel was enthusiastic about standards, and in a more demanding world there was a need for standards in achieving higher throughput. Standards were useful in limiting the number of choices a client had to make. 

However, the panel was somewhat circumspect about the use of laser/optical transmitters from satellite to Earth, given the weather challenges, clouds and the costs of ground equipment and the need to back-up optical with RF transmission. 

By Chris Forrester

Miguel Valero (Managing Director, Space Strategies LLC) moderated this session at the SmallSat Europe event in Amsterdam on May 28. 

Richard Adams (Sales Director, Bright Ascension). Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, Bright Ascension supplies Mission Control software and Flight software. More than 50 space missions in its output. The enquiries that come to us tend to be focused on Earth observation, including famine and risk, disaster and climate change. He also flagged up the choices that would need to be made when considering partnering with another company. “Working on your own is challenging, but focus, not distraction, is key.” There were also problems in building hardware, and in particular dealing with component suppliers, when scaling up a service.

Adams added that software and hardware working together was obviously crucial. But the hardware has to work as specified, and while the hardware – and software – could be upgraded in orbit, this required thorough testing.

Thys Cronje (CCO, Simera Sense). Belgium HQ’d Simera Sense is a leading provider of optical payloads for small satellites. The company is a supplier of optical payloads in the international small satellite market with the bulk of its manufacturing taking place in South Africa. Cronje explained that there had been a significant increase in enquiries for optical and Earth observation activity. “My advice for new entrants would be to identify that niche in the market. This isn’t easy, of course!”

Cronje also talked about some US budget cuts, not least in Weather Data, and this has created opportunities in the sector. 

Stephen McCall (Founding Partner, Cislunar International). Cislunar is a recognized leader in defense, aerospace, and government affairs. “There is the new $175 billion proposal out of the US for its Golden Dome scheme. If this plan passes, and you have a product that could fit within the Golden Dome brief, then get involved.” But he advised that it was crucial to be specific as to what your business or technology could offer. But the Golden Dome cash, probably to be funded in 2026, is now definitely on the radar.

By Chris Forrester

Alexis Sainz (Partner, Hogan Lovells) moderated the SmallSat Europe session, which examined the current patterns in M&A activity in Europe and whether changes in the US would impact European activity.

Karl Schmidt (Managing Director, KippsDeSanto & Co.) explained that some 800 deals had been processed over the previous couple of years of which just 140 had ‘space’ in the deal. For 2024 some 7% last year mentioned ‘space’ in terms of M&A, but for this year that has grown to 22% of a European buyer or seller.  From a European M&A perspective there’s a great deal to be optimistic about, but there’s a degree of chaos in the US.

He also said that over the past few months there had been a major shift. He said there was once a reluctance to be involved in defense-related activity. That has changed, and now every VC wanted to be involved.

John Lusk (CEO, Spire Maritime) told delegates that commercial activity when combined with potential valuable IP in their portfolios could be attractive. But cautioned that frequently, a government investment comes with constraints and caveats not least in hiring local staff.

Francois Chopard (CEO, Starburst Ventures) said space activity in Europe is really led by government activity. He said the ESA-backed IRIS² project was a case in point. But the recent geopolitical problems have seemingly encouraged France, German and Italy to start looking to invest in their own military support by satellite. Budgets are increasing, without a doubt, and the Ukraine conflict has issued an alert for all of Europe in terms of needs. 

Swarnajyoti Mukherjee (Commercialisation Officer, Dir. Commercialisation, Industry & Competitiveness

European Space Agency – ESA) said that ESA was looking beyond helping develop space programmes. It had traditionally been helping with funding in R&D and this would grow. He touched on IRIS² which he said was going to generate good business, and some of which would generate help from ESA.