Impulse Space, a rocket engine startup founded by SpaceX engineer Tom Mueller, has raised $500 million in a Series D funding round to hire up to 200 new employees. The investment, led by 137 Ventures and BANNER VC, with participation from Founders Fund, Lux Capital, and Linse Capital, highlights growing investor interest in space and defense technology. The company plans to use the funds to expand its workforce and develop more spacecraft. President and COO Eric Romo said the capital will help the company build and test additional space vehicles, while also addressing the high demand for aerospace talent.

The company is focusing on in-space mobility, with its Mira platform targeting U.S. Space Force buyers. It is also developing Helios, a vehicle designed to rapidly transport satellites to high orbits after they are deployed closer to Earth. Romo noted that while the company’s software teams are adopting AI coding tools, deep learning models are not yet mature enough to solve real-world engineering challenges. He explained that the simulations used in the past were not very accurate, and success was measured if results were within 20% of the correct answer. Despite improvements, Romo said there is still no substitute for designing, analyzing, building, and testing physical systems.

Romo pointed out that AI tools for hardware design may take longer to develop because the right training data is scarce compared to the vast amount of text and code available for training large language models. He added that finding the best designs for specific hardware components, like a turbo pump seal package, is difficult online. Impulse started with propulsion and expanded to spacecraft, requiring additional expertise in engineering and flight systems. The company recently opened an office in Colorado because aerospace talent now has more options beyond traditional hubs like Los Angeles. Next up for Impulse is another launch of its Mira spacecraft, which made its third flight late last year, though it faced issues with its navigation system that led to early propellant use.

Source: techcrunch