What is Impulse Space?
In-space transportation company building Mira and Helios spacecraft to move payloads across Earth orbit and beyond.
- Category
- In-space mobility
- Headquarters
- Redondo Beach, CA
- Founded
- 2021
- Employees
- 300+ estimated
- Total funding
- $1B+ disclosed
- Valuation
- Private; valuation not disclosed
What is Impulse Space?
Impulse Space is a in-space mobility company founded in 2021 and headquartered in Redondo Beach, CA.
Impulse Space is a in-space mobility company founded in 2021 and headquartered in Redondo Beach, CA. In-space transportation company building Mira and Helios spacecraft to move payloads across Earth orbit and beyond. Public revenue is not disclosed; the best scale signals are 300+ estimated employees, $1B+ disclosed in disclosed funding or financing, and named strategic customers, investors, or project partners.
The company operates in a market where buyers care about technical proof, safety, regulatory execution, deployment reliability, and bankable unit economics. Its product surface includes Mira orbital transfer vehicle, Helios high-energy kick stage, Saiph thrusters, Deneb engine, with commercialization tied to long sales cycles and real-world deployment milestones.
For sellers, Impulse Space should be treated as a sophisticated technical buyer rather than a conventional SaaS account. Engineering and operations leaders shape architecture, finance and legal shape contract structure, and executives usually become involved when the purchase touches strategic capacity, manufacturing, safety, or regulated deployment.
What does Impulse Space offer?
Impulse Space's product set centers on Mira orbital transfer vehicle, Helios high-energy kick stage, Saiph thrusters.
- Mira orbital transfer vehicle· Spacecraft
- Helios high-energy kick stage· Spacecraft
- Saiph thrusters· Propulsion
- Deneb engine· Propulsion
- LEO Express missions· Service
- National security mobility· Market
How does Impulse Space make money?
Impulse sells mission services and spacecraft capacity for orbital transfer, high-energy delivery, hosted payloads, and national-security mobility.
Impulse sells mission services and spacecraft capacity for orbital transfer, high-energy delivery, hosted payloads, and national-security mobility. The company does not publish simple self-serve pricing because contracts are tied to deployment scope, physical capacity, engineering services, risk allocation, and long-term operating obligations.
Pricing is mission-specific and not public; it depends on payload mass, orbit change, timeline, spacecraft bus, propulsion needs, launch pairing, and mission assurance. Growth is driven by converting technical proof into repeatable commercial deployments, then expanding with customers or partners that can absorb larger volumes, additional sites, or more mission-critical workloads.
Unit economics depend less on seat expansion and more on utilization, manufacturing yield, project execution, contract duration, and the cost of capital. As Impulse Space scales, procurement becomes more formal: vendors should be ready for safety, security, quality, compliance, and finance reviews before broad rollout.
Who leads Impulse Space?
Impulse Space is led by Tom Mueller, with technical, commercial, and operating leadership built around in-space mobility.
- Tom MuellerFounder & CEOFounder since 2021SpaceX founding propulsion engineer; leads product and technical culture.
- Barry MatsumoriChief Operating OfficerExecutive leadershipCommercial space executive scaling operations and customer delivery.
- John W. RaymondBoard memberJoined board 2024Former U.S. Space Force chief; strengthens national-security strategy.
- Impulse propulsion leadershipEngineering leadershipScale-up phaseOwns Mira, Helios, Saiph, and Deneb vehicle execution.
How do you contact Impulse Space's leadership?
Use published company channels first. Personal addresses below are format-following examples using impulsespace.com; verify before outreach unless the address is a role inbox listed as published.
first.last@impulsespace.com (format-following example; verify before outreach)How much funding has Impulse Space raised?
Impulse Space has $1B+ disclosed; latest disclosed valuation/status is Private; valuation not disclosed.
Impulse Space's disclosed financing history is concentrated in these major public events: 2021-2022: Seed / early financing; Jun 2022: Additional financing - $10M; Jul 2023: Series A - $45M; 2024-2025: Growth rounds; Jun 2026: Series D - $500M. The latest disclosed valuation or status is Private; valuation not disclosed, and the company has not disclosed full revenue or profitability.
2021-2022: Seed / early financing. Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Airbus Ventures, and Space Capital support early orbital-transfer vehicle work. Jun 2022: Additional financing - $10M. SpaceNews reported added capital for orbital transfer vehicles. Jul 2023: Series A - $45M. Led by RTX Ventures to develop Mira and in-space logistics services. 2024-2025: Growth rounds. Impulse expands Mira missions, Helios development, and national security work. Jun 2026: Series D - $500M. Co-led by 137 Ventures and Banner VC; total funding rises above $1B.
The funding signal matters because this is a capital-intensive in-space mobility company. Large rounds typically fund facilities, hardware, qualification, regulatory work, safety systems, and commercial teams, so sellers should expect formal technical review, finance scrutiny, security or compliance review, and multi-stakeholder procurement.
How did Impulse Space get here?
Impulse Space's path runs from its 2021 founding through financing, technical proof, and commercial deployment milestones.
- 2021Company foundedTom Mueller starts Impulse Space after SpaceX.
- Feb 2023Redondo Beach HQ openedImpulse relocates to a 60,000-square-foot headquarters.
- Nov 2023LEO Express-1Mira flies its first mission on SpaceX Transporter.
- Jan 2025LEO Express-2Impulse flies a second Mira mission.
- Nov 2025LEO Express-3Mira completes a third mission.
- Jun 2026$500M Series DCapital funds scaled spacecraft production and hiring.
Who are Impulse Space's competitors?
Impulse Space competes with specialized startups and incumbents adjacent to in-space mobility.
- D-OrbitEuropean in-space logistics and orbital-transfer company.
- MomentusOrbital-service vehicle provider for payload transport.
- ExotrailElectric propulsion and space logistics company.
- Rocket Lab Space SystemsPhoton spacecraft and mission services competitor.
- Firefly AerospaceSpacecraft, lunar, and launch services competitor.
Impulse Space — frequently asked questions
