In-space shuttle services provider Momentus announced last week that it has raised $25.5 million in Series A funding. The investment round was led by Prime Movers Lab.
Other participating investors include Y Combinator, the Lerner Family, the University of Wyoming Foundation, Quiet Capital, Mountain Nazca, ACE & Company, Liquid 2 Ventures, Drake Management and others. Momentus has raised a total of $34 million in investment capital.
In addition to building out the team and expanding research / manufacturing facilities, Santa Clara-based Momentus will use the funding to continue development and in-space testing for Momentus’ Vigoride and Vigoride Extended in-space shuttles. Momentus uses shuttles to move payloads such as satellites between orbits.
“I look forward to Momentus delivering on their massive backlog of contracts and partnerships with NASA, SpaceX and other top players in the space ecosystem.”
“In the past 18 months, Momentus has rapidly matured their water plasma propulsion system to deliver the world’s safest and most affordable in-space transportation services. They recently launched their first demonstration and are on track to radically reshape the landscape of the space economy,” said Dakin Sloss, Founder, and General Partner at Prime Movers Lab. “I look forward to Momentus delivering on their massive backlog of contracts and partnerships with NASA, SpaceX and other top players in the space ecosystem.”
Momentus Founder, CEO, and veteran space entrepreneur Mikhail Kokorich said: “This latest investment will accelerate the development of our technology and flight systems, as well as help conduct in-space flight tests and paid customer missions. Part of this effort will include moving most of our development in-house and investing in vertical integration. Finally, this money will also allow us to do additional flight demonstrations in 2020, and a semi-experimental mission that will prove our technology while generating our first revenue.”
Currently, three flights of the Vigoride shuttle service are scheduled for 2020, and Momentus has a 3-year backlog including rides for over 50 satellites. In-space transportation is a burgeoning sector and a market that is projected to grow from $9.7 billion in 2017 and up to $37 billion in 8 years.