The verified answer
As of Sep 2026, DEPLOY verifies Impulse Space: 6 models, 6 deployments across 2 regions, $575.0M raised. 1 source back the record.
CategorySpace
Overview
Impulse Space is a Redondo Beach, California-based in-space mobility company founded by Tom Mueller, the Spacex founding employee who built the Falcon 9 engine. The company develops orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) and chemical propulsion systems for satellite deployment and in-space logistics. Impulse Space raised $500M in Series D funding (co-led by 137 Ventures and BANNER VC), bringing total funding to over $1B to build in-space mobility infrastructure for the space economy.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 6 deployments on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Valuation of record
DEPLOY VERIFIEDPriced roundSeries D post-money
Key facts
Product
Founder/CEO
Founded
Fundingsee investors →
Board
Partners
Contracts
Patents
CEO
Products
Data & sources
Web sources
1
1 source backing this record.View all →
Models (6)
View all models →Current platform
Mars Lander
Commercial robotic Mars lander under joint development with Relativity Space. Impulse provides Mars Cruise Vehicle, Entry Capsule, and Lander (including Saiph cruise thrusters and Rigel descent engine). Relativity provides Terran R launch from Cape Canaveral. Target launch: 2026 (slipped from 2024). Heritage from NASA InSight lander architecture.
Current platform
Deneb
67 kN LOX/methane staged-combustion engine for Helios kick stage. 380+ seconds specific impulse. Restart-capable for multi-burn missions. Ox-rich staged combustion cycle.
Current platform
Rigel
180 lbf (~800 N) bipropellant engine in development for Mars lander propulsive descent. Tested at Mojave Air and Space Port. Will perform powered landing on Mars for the joint Impulse/Relativity mission.
Current platform
Saiph
22 N bipropellant thruster using nitrous oxide and ethane. Qualified May 2023. Storable, non-toxic, spark-ignited. Flight heritage on Mira OTV flights (LEO Express-1 and 2) and Haven Demo (Vast). Selected for Vast Haven-1 space station propulsion (RCS + deorbit).
Current platform
Helios
High-energy kick stage designed for direct GEO insertion from LEO. 3.5 m diameter. Primary engine: Deneb (67 kN LOX/methane, ox-rich staged combustion, 380+ s Isp). Payload capacity ~4,000 kg. First flight targeted 2026 (Falcon 9, with two Mira vehicles). First commercial customer: SES (multi-launch agreement, first mission 2027).
Current platform
Mira
Orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) for last-mile payload delivery in LEO and beyond. ~300 kg. Uses eight Saiph thrusters (22 N each, N2O/ethane). First flight November 2023 (Transporter-9, LEO Express-1); second flight January 2025 (Transporter-12, LEO Express-2). Autonomous plane changes, LTAN changes, payload deployment, and proximity operations.
Partnerships
Every company Impulse Space has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most-frequent partners
- 1SpaceX1× joint6 total
Most recent
- Impulse Space x SpaceX2023-01-01with SpaceXoperating
Impulse Space on the deployment map
View the global map6 verified deployments across 2 regions, newest verified Jun 2025. Explore where Impulse Space's robots are operating, by place and type.
- announcedMira at Geostationary Orbit (GEO) →Oregon · verified Jun 2025
- announcedSaiph at Low Earth Orbit →Oregon · verified Jun 2025
- announcedMars Lander at Mars →Space · verified Jun 2025
- announcedHelios at Geostationary Orbit (GEO) →Oregon · verified Jun 2025
- endedMira at Low Earth Orbit →Oregon · verified Jan 2025
- endedMira at Low Earth Orbit →Oregon · verified Nov 2023
View the full Impulse Space deployment record →
Relationships
Current leadership (1)
- Tom Mueller Founder and CEOsecondary-verified
Founders (1)
- Tom Muellerfounded 2026-06-01
Board (1)
- John W. Raymond director
Safety record
No incidents on record for Impulse Space.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Operator customers (1)
- Impulse Space6 deployments
Recent coverage
Impulse Space in third-party press
Peers
56 peers across 1 segment. Every Impulse Space competitor derived from shared form-factor and application-domain edges.
space(56)
36 companies in this segment · low_concentration (HHI 1188.742650389188) · leader K2 Space at 2172%
- Airbusdirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Astrobotic Technologydirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Astroscaledirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Boeingdirect competitor(inferred)strong
- China Manned Space Agencydirect competitor(inferred)strong
- China National Space Administrationdirect competitor(inferred)strong
Financial state
- Total funding
- $575.0M
- Employees
- 500
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- growth
- Counterparty risk class
- low
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Partnerships
1 total · 1 operating
Every company Impulse Space has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most recent
- Impulse Space x SpaceX2023-01-01with SpaceXoperating
Most-frequent partners
- 1SpaceX1× joint6 total
Funding rounds (4)
Impulse Space’s 4 disclosed rounds, $575M in total, oldest to newest.
- Series D2026-06-02
$500M(reported) · $6.0B post
Investors: 137 Ventures (co_lead), BANNER VC (co_lead), Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Linse Capital
- Series A2023-07-24
$45M · $270M post
Investors: RTX Ventures (lead), Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Airbus Ventures, Space Capital
- Seed Extension2022-06-16
$10M(reported) · $40M post
Investors: Lux Capital (lead)
- Seed2022-03-01
$20M(reported) · $80M post
Timeline
Every recorded move in Impulse Space’s history, most recent first: funding rounds, partnerships, acquisitions, supply-chain starts, key hires, and press.
Funding roundSeries D funding round
2026-06-02Series D raising $500000000
Funding roundSeries A funding round
2023-07-24Series A raising $45000000
PartnershipImpulse Space x SpaceX
2023-01-01Impulse Space uses SpaceX Transporter rideshare missions to deploy its orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) that deliver satellites to custom orbits. The partnership enables cost-effective in-space transportation.
Funding roundSeed Extension funding round
2022-06-16Seed Extension raising $10000000
Funding roundSeed funding round
2022-03-01Seed raising $20000000
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 11, 2026
Impulse Space | Accelerating Our Future Beyond Earth
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 11, 2026
Mira | Built for In-Space Mobility
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 7, 2026
Hello, Solar System!
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 7, 2026
Hello, Solar System!
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 7, 2026
Hello, Solar System!
Sources (1)
Common questions
What is Impulse Space?
What does Impulse Space make?
Is Impulse Space publicly traded?
Who competes with Impulse Space?
Who is the CEO of Impulse Space?
How can I invest in Impulse Space?
Where is Impulse Space headquartered?
How much funding has Impulse Space raised?
Who owns Impulse Space?
Where does Impulse Space operate robots?
How many robots has Impulse Space deployed?
Is Impulse Space a top robotics company?
When was Impulse Space founded?
Is Impulse Space safe?
Methodology: Verified · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-21
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Sources by quality tier
- 1
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Impulse Space.Peer companies
- AstroForge3 models
- Astrobotic Technology3 models
- China National Space Administration3 models
- SpaceX3 models
- Astroscale2 models
- Boeing2 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Impulse Space from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Impulse Space Scales Rideshare Program to GEO With Increased Demand
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Impulse Space has three rideshare missions to Geostationary Orbit (GEO) fully booked through 2028 and is looking at increasing the rideshare missions to…
Impulse Space Wins New Space Force Contract
Impulse Space has won further business with U.S. Space Force. It has won a $28 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III contract extension in support of two…
Space Force orders two more Impulse Space vehicles for maneuvering demonstrations
A $28 million contract expansion adds Victus Salo 2 and 3 to an earlier award for responsive-space missions The post Space Force orders two more Impulse Space vehicles for…
Introducing Electra: Expanding Mission Possibilities with Electric Propulsion
Impulse Space introduced Electra, its first in-house electric propulsion (EP) system, designed to complement its chemical propulsion lineup. Electra provides highly fuel-efficient…
Impulse Space Details its First Electric Propulsion System
Impulse Space detailed Electra, its first electric propulsion system, built in six months at its Redondo Beach facility. Flight qualification is underway for integration with Mira…
Impulse Space Raises $500M Series D to Build In-Space Mobility Infrastructure for the Space Economy
Impulse Space raised $500M in Series D funding co-led by 137 Ventures and BANNER VC, bringing total capital to over $1B, to build in-space mobility infrastructure for the growing…
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/impulse-space.md
- RSS feed: /companies/impulse-space/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/90becab7-664d-4140-8b1e-2703d1be7e91
- Revision history: /companies/impulse-space/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- AstroForge3 models
- Astrobotic Technology3 models
- China National Space Administration3 models
- SpaceX3 models
- Astroscale2 models
- Boeing2 models
Video
Los Angeles’s aerospace industry has been supercharged by former SpaceX talent. Veterans of Elon Musk’s company have started commercial space ventures of their
What happens after a SpaceX rocket drops off its payload? For Tom Mueller—SpaceX’s very first employee and the genius behind the Merlin engine—the answer is the
At $130,000 an hour, astronaut time is the most expensive labor off Earth. So why are highly-trained scientists spending their days doing orbital chores like un
Team 2337 2019 Robot: Impulse Song Used: "Under The Pressure" by: The Score Stay up to date with The EngiNERDs! Website: http://www.team2337.com/ Twitter: htt
How do we move things in space? Impulse Space wants to be the tug company of choice for our future orbital transfer needs.
Impulse Space's mission is to accelerate humanity's future beyond Earth. Learn how they replaced a fragmented test software stack with Revel, cut stand setup fr
[ video & text : Impulse Space Inc. ] Helios The Distance Vehicle. Transport mass from LEO to GEO in under a day. Mira The Agile Spacecraft. Host, deploy, and
Designed and built from the ground up, Impulse Space is creating orbital maneuvering vehicles specifically for last-mile payload delivery. These vehicles are ca
Impulse Space Customer Testimonial discussing Siemens Integrations & NX @SiemensSoftware @SiemensKnowledgeHub @ImpulseSpace
#humanoidrobot #robot #usa Meet HELIOS, the next chapter in ORBIT’s mission to build humanoid robots for space. source footage : ORBIT #usa #hypercar #jdm #bm
Did you know Impulse Space plans to build a robotic lunar lander? It uses "Helios" technology to travel without refueling. But what happens when it launches?
Impulse vs Bullseye Fight 2 - Ant Join our discord! https://discord.gg/SXwArmv Thank you To our sponsors: Printables Repeat Robotics ItGresa Robotics Ninjatek
Heat Index
Category contender77/100
A composite of competitive footprint, funding, press velocity, active partnerships, and supply-chain edges. Different from the Intelligence score below (which is per-form-factor productization). Non-robotics companies cap at 25.
Reality vs attention
Impulse Space draws attention at the 84th percentile but verifies reality at the 93rd percentile among space robots. Hype Gap -8.3, 21st widest among space robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 6 verified deployments. Well-capitalized with $575M raised and recent funding activity. Deployment footprint remains limited relative to category peers.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Sep 6, 2026