impulse space
SpaceX launched its ninth “Transporter” mission from California on Saturday, carrying dozens of small and medium-sized satellites into low Earth orbit.
The benefit for customers of these launches is regular, low-cost access to space aboard the reliable Falcon 9 rocket. The disadvantage is that the satellites are all ejected into basic orbits, so if you want to reach different altitudes or inclinations, the satellites have to move under their own propulsion.
This has led to the emergence of “last mile” services from various companies that provide small additional spacecraft that can provide propulsion in space. One of his most interesting companies is Impulse Space, a company founded two years before his by Tom Mueller, a rocket scientist who was a founding employee at SpaceX until he retired in 2020. .
During Saturday’s launch, Mueller’s career completed something of a full circle when a Falcon 9 rocket lifted Impulse Space’s first spacecraft, the Mira spacecraft, on a test flight. After the launch, I received a call home from the Mira “LEO Express 1” mission to let me know that everything was fine. So, the mission got off to a good start.
anywhere in the solar system
For Mueller, running Impulse Space is a new experience after working at SpaceX. There he led the development of the Merlin engine that powered the Falcon 9 rocket and oversaw all elements of rocket and spacecraft propulsion. As vice president and then as an advisor, he was able to focus primarily on the technical rather than the business side.
“At SpaceX, I certainly wasn’t involved in the financing or the business side or running the company as a whole,” he told Ars in an interview earlier this year. “We had a lot to learn, but I think we’re getting better at that. Certainly, technologically, we feel very strong. We have a really nice spacecraft. I am.”
Fully fueled, the Mira spacecraft weighs approximately 650 pounds (300 kg) and is about the size of a dishwasher. The vehicle is designed to maximize its delta-V capability, so much of it is propellant and fuel tanks, powered by a Saif thruster operating at a specific impulse (ISP) of 290. “This is a pretty amazing little machine,” Mueller said.
While SpaceX has expanded the ability of space startups to reach orbit with low-cost, reliable launches, Impulse plans to take customers to the next step, Mueller said.
“SpaceX has expanded access to orbit by lowering the cost of access space, and now we want to expand access to more orbits, higher-energy orbits, and other objects in the inner solar system.” ,” Mueller said. “We want to be able to go anywhere in the solar system cheaply and easily.”
mars on the horizon
Impulse Space has already announced several customers for Mira. orbit fab, and plans to fly the Mira spacecraft on SpaceX’s Transporter-11 and -12 missions next year. Muller believes that once Mira proves its capabilities, more customers will sign on.
“We’ve signed some customers. We have a lot of people who are interested, but they want to see us fly well. You know that. , I can’t blame them. I think “Really, if the flight is successful, the floodgates will open for this product line. We’ll demonstrate everything we want to do with this first flight.” If we show it to them, hopefully a lot of people will sign up.”
The company’s Mira vehicle can operate in low-Earth orbit, and a modified version with increased radiation resistance is planned for geostationary orbit. Impulse Space is also developing a more powerful thruster, Rigel, for Mars landers and large orbiting satellites. The robotic mission to Mars is scheduled to fly by 2026 on a Terran R rocket built by Relativity Space.
Despite a difficult funding environment, Impulse Space continues to find financial support. In July, the company announced that it had raised $45 million in Series A funding led by RTX Ventures. A year ago, Impulse announced it had raised $30 million. So perhaps Mr. Mueller has picked up on his fundraising tips and is running his own company.
