Apex, Axiom and Impulse Space detail their newest venture rounds
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By
Ross Wilkers
Each company is focusing on efforts to expand manufacturing capacity and other aspects of scaling out their businesses.
Apex
The satellite and bus producer has secured $200 million in growth capital to support work on expanding its manufacturing campus and ramping up vertical integration of subsystems.
Apex started in 2022 to design and build productized buses that control how satellites generate power and communicate, while also giving customers the ability to add new equipment. Government agencies and satellite operators represent core customer sets for Apex, which is eyeing later this year for the launch of a handful of satellites.
Glade Brook Capital Partners and Washington Harbour Partners led this growth capital round, which values the company at a touted $2.3 billion. This round follows Apex’s $200 million Series D raise in the fall that pushed its touted valuation past $1 billion.
In conjunction with the new round, Apex has also hired former Axon executive Michael Kopet as chief financial officer to help lead this new phase of the strategy.
Apex’s key priorities for development include Nova 1, a satellite platform hosting an on-orbit space-based interceptor demonstration that is scheduled to launch this summer. The Project Shadow demonstration is intended to show that the spacecraft can host and support missile interceptors while orbiting the Earth.
Axiom Space
The human space exploration and infrastructure company has added another $175 million in capital to an investment round it announced in February at roughly $350 million.
With this final close, Axiom Space now touts the round as having hauled in $525 million through an “opportunistic extension” intended to tap into investor interest in its commercial space station efforts and work on spacesuits for NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration effort.
MUFT Bank Ltd., Japan’s largest bank, is a new investor that is joining Axiom’s network of backers through the $175 million extension, for which J.P. Morgan acted as the placement agent.
Axiom Space started in 2016 and is positioning itself to eventually be the commercial successor to the International Space Station, which is scheduled for decommissioning in 2030.
The company is gearing the new capital toward the space station and spacesuit programs, along with its broader technology roadmap and other space infrastructure efforts.
Impulse Space
This specialist in space transportation has collected $500 million in Series D capital to aid its efforts at expanding the team and capacity to produce vehicles, propulsion systems and other key architecture.
Impulse Space was founded in 2021 by CEO Tom Mueller, employee No. 1 at SpaceX and principal engineer of the rocket engines that power the Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft. Mueller’s idea for starting Impulse was to build vehicles that are more maneuverable, which would help satellites and payloads move throughout space.
137 Ventures and Banner VC co-led the Series D round, which pushes Impulse’s touted valuation past $1 billion and follows the $300 million Series C raise in 2025. Founder’s Fund, Lux Capital and Linse Capital also participated.
Impulse has planned for at least 200 open roles are planned across propulsion, avionics, autonomy, spacecraft systems, manufacturing and mission operations.
The company’s flagship systems include Mira, a maneuvering spacecraft designed to support in-space operations, and the Helios kick stage scheduled for first flight in 2027.