Impulse Space, founded in 2021 by ex-SpaceX engineer Tom Mueller, is an in-space transportation company and space tug provider. It develops orbital transfer vehicles like Mira and Helios to move satellites and payloads from LEO to other orbits, including GEO, lunar, and Martian destinations. Impulse Space has partnered with companies like Relativity Space, Exolaunch, and Anduril, and was selected by NASA as a launch service provider under the VADR contract.
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Impulse Space proposed adapting a version of a space tug developed for operating in Earth orbit to deliver small spacecraft or hosted payloads to Mars.
Impulso.Space signed a contract with Relativity Space to provide launch-related services.
Specific impulse is a key parameter that measures the performance of a rocket engine and is proportional to the exhaust speed of the rocket.
The fuel/oxidizer pair significantly determines the specific impulse of a rocket engine.
High specific impulse combinations studied in the 1950s included hydrazine/fluorine, hydrogen/fluorine, and hydrogen/oxygen.
Impulse Space unveiled a larger vehicle called Helios designed to serve as a transfer stage to transport satellites from low Earth orbit to geostationary orbit in less than a day.
Impulse Space was selected in January 2023 by SpaceWERX for two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts via the 2023 SpaceWERX Tactically Responsive Space Challenge.
Impulse Space launched the small transfer vehicle Mira in November as part of a mission called LEO Express-1 that successfully deployed a cubesat.
Impulse Space developed Mira from a blank-sheet design to successful operations in space in 15 months.
Impulse Space developed and operated Mira from a blank-sheet design to successful operations in space in 15 months.
Impulse Space raised $45,000,000 in a Series A funding round in July 2023.
Impulse Space is working on a Series B funding round to support development of Helios and the Mira business.
The Halcyon propulsion system from Benchmark Space Systems is developed for 6U through ESPA satellite operations, has a maximum firing time of 10,000 s per thruster, and a propellant mass of 0.66 kg per 1000 Ns impulse.
The ENPULSION MICRO R³ from ENPULSION is an electric propulsion thruster with a thrust range of 0.0003-0.001 N, a nominal thrust of 1 mN, and a controllable specific impulse of 1,500-4,500 s.
The NPT30-I2 from ThrustMe is a gridded ion thruster with a thrust range of 0.0003 to 0.0011 N and a specific impulse of up to 2400 s.
Impulse Space is building an in-space transportation company designed to leverage Starship’s rideshare capabilities.
Impulse Space has raised $75,000,000 since last year.
RTX Ventures led Impulse Space’s $45,000,000 Series A funding round.
The Series A funding will support Impulse Space’s work on upcoming missions including LEO Express-1, a GEO refueling mission, and a mission to Mars.
Impulse Space secured $45,000,000 in a Series A funding round.