**Impulse Space raises $500 million as orbital maneuvering race heats up** (Ars Technica, Eric Berger — Jun 2nd, 2026)
Alright space nerds, brace yourselves—because Impulse Space just dropped a **$500 million Series D funding round**, and this isn't some random cash injection. Founded five years ago by none other than SpaceX veteran Tom Mueller (yes, *that* Tom Mueller), the company has now raised over $1 billion total and sits at Redondo Beach with 500+ employees — oh, and they're hiring like crazy right now with 200 open positions on top of what's already in place. The thing that really grabbed my attention is how Eric Romo (the president/COO) framed the whole moment: *"It's all happening now,"* he said when I asked about momentum—and to his point, no one was talking seriously about data centers *in space* a year ago either! Mueller himself echoed this timing argument in our interview with him — and trust me, you want that full story from Ars since Eric Berger (the author of both Liftoff and Reentry) nails it perfectly.
Now for the actual engineering stuff because here's where things get really juicy: Impulse already flew **three missions** between 2001-present using their Mira spacecraft first launched in 2023 with a novel propulsion system powered by nitrous oxide + ethane (those non-toxic propellants give you better performance per unit volume). They then announced the Helios kick stage — which is essentially what happens when you bolt another rocket motor directly on top of your Falcon9 to reach higher orbits or deeper destinations like geostationary. The math works out beautifully: while existing commercial landers such as Firefly's Blue Ghost can only drop about 100-200 kg per flight onto the Moon using a standard two-stage launch vehicle, putting Helios plus an optimized one-ton-class lunar craft on top of that same Falcon9 gives you roughly ten times more mass delivered — yeah you read right! This capability lands squarely within Phase Two goals for NASA's ambitious Artemis-driven "Moon Base" initiative beginning around 2031.
But wait—it gets even better because Helios will debut next year aboard the fully-booked Caravan rideshare mission heading straight up toward GEO where smaller satellites can then move themselves into different positions before being deployed down below. Future opportunities in 'twelve months, meaning we'll see a second run coming along 2036 as well! There's also serious momentum behind Earth orbit mobility thanks partly to Space Force budgets growing significantly over recent years especially regarding countering hostile Chinese spacecraft activities near polar regions and beyond — think satellite tugboats doing orbital maneuvers instead of just letting everything drift away after deployment. I love seeing companies building their capabilities on real-world experience rather than purely theoretical models, so Impulse's early success with Mira makes this entire endeavor feel grounded in reality!
Source: https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/06/impulse-space-raises-500-million-as-orbital-maneuvering-race-heats-up/
Alright space nerds, brace yourselves—because Impulse Space just dropped a **$500 million Series D funding round**, and this isn't some random cash injection. Founded five years ago by none other than SpaceX veteran Tom Mueller (yes, *that* Tom Mueller), the company has now raised over $1 billion total and sits at Redondo Beach with 500+ employees — oh, and they're hiring like crazy right now with 200 open positions on top of what's already in place. The thing that really grabbed my attention is how Eric Romo (the president/COO) framed the whole moment: *"It's all happening now,"* he said when I asked about momentum—and to his point, no one was talking seriously about data centers *in space* a year ago either! Mueller himself echoed this timing argument in our interview with him — and trust me, you want that full story from Ars since Eric Berger (the author of both Liftoff and Reentry) nails it perfectly.
Now for the actual engineering stuff because here's where things get really juicy: Impulse already flew **three missions** between 2001-present using their Mira spacecraft first launched in 2023 with a novel propulsion system powered by nitrous oxide + ethane (those non-toxic propellants give you better performance per unit volume). They then announced the Helios kick stage — which is essentially what happens when you bolt another rocket motor directly on top of your Falcon9 to reach higher orbits or deeper destinations like geostationary. The math works out beautifully: while existing commercial landers such as Firefly's Blue Ghost can only drop about 100-200 kg per flight onto the Moon using a standard two-stage launch vehicle, putting Helios plus an optimized one-ton-class lunar craft on top of that same Falcon9 gives you roughly ten times more mass delivered — yeah you read right! This capability lands squarely within Phase Two goals for NASA's ambitious Artemis-driven "Moon Base" initiative beginning around 2031.
But wait—it gets even better because Helios will debut next year aboard the fully-booked Caravan rideshare mission heading straight up toward GEO where smaller satellites can then move themselves into different positions before being deployed down below. Future opportunities in 'twelve months, meaning we'll see a second run coming along 2036 as well! There's also serious momentum behind Earth orbit mobility thanks partly to Space Force budgets growing significantly over recent years especially regarding countering hostile Chinese spacecraft activities near polar regions and beyond — think satellite tugboats doing orbital maneuvers instead of just letting everything drift away after deployment. I love seeing companies building their capabilities on real-world experience rather than purely theoretical models, so Impulse's early success with Mira makes this entire endeavor feel grounded in reality!
Source: https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/06/impulse-space-raises-500-million-as-orbital-maneuvering-race-heats-up/