Impulse Space Lands $28M Space Force Deal After $308M Raise

Impulse Space, the space-mobility company founded by former SpaceX propulsion chief Tom Mueller, said Sept. 22 it won a $28 million U.S. Space Force contract to fly a government-built tracking payload on its Mira spacecraft, its third distinct Space Force award since July and its second announcement in six days after closing a funding round.

Of the $28 million, $19.75 million comes through the Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies program, sponsored by U.S. Space Command for fiscal 2026, according to the company's announcement. The contract funds a Mira spacecraft carrying an optical payload built by MIT Lincoln Laboratory to track objects in geostationary orbit, with launch planned no earlier than 2029. Mira is Impulse's maneuvering spacecraft, rated to deliver up to 850 meters per second of delta-v, a measure of how much a spacecraft can change its velocity, for a 100-kilogram payload using chemical propulsion.

A pattern of small awards, not one big customer

The SDA contract is the third the company has disclosed from the Space Force since July 8, when Space Systems Command named Impulse the first upper-stage company to hold prime status in the National Security Space Launch Phase 3, Lane 1 program, Via Satellite reported at the time, with an initial $5 million task order to begin onramping. On Aug. 12, Space Systems Command's Space Safari office added $28 million to an existing Small Business Innovation Research agreement to cover two more Victus Salo maneuvering demonstrations, SpaceNews reported, lifting that single agreement's value to about $62.8 million from the $34.8 million it started at in 2024.

None of the three contracts disclosed since July is large enough on its own to explain why investors just added $308 million to Impulse's balance sheet. Together, they describe a company generating revenue in installments of $5 million to $28 million across at least four separate government agreements, rather than from one large program or a commercial launch customer.

Date	Award	Value
July 8, 2026	NSSL Lane 1 prime status, initial task order	$5 million
Aug. 12, 2026	Victus Salo 2 and 3 extension	$28 million (contract now $62.8 million)
Sept. 16, 2026	Series D extension	$308 million (round now $808 million)
Sept. 22, 2026	SDA optical-payload mission	$28 million

The funding behind the contracts

Impulse Space said Sept. 16 it closed a $308 million extension to its Series D, bringing the round's combined total to $808 million, with 137 Ventures, BANNER VC, DFJ Growth, Linse Capital, Lux Capital and Valor Equity Partners participating. Eric Romo, Impulse's president and chief operating officer, said in that statement that "this continued support from our investors strengthens our ability to build the systems that will unlock the space economy," and the company separately named Adam Townsend, who joined from television maker Vizio, as its first chief financial officer.

The extension arrives in the same month as large rounds for other growth-stage companies working through the same reset in what investors will pay: Cyera closed a $400 million round in September at the same valuation it carried in June, rather than a markup, and Snorkel AI tripled its own valuation in a separate raise this month. Impulse's extension does not disclose a new valuation at all, only the additional dollar amount.

Mueller, a founding SpaceX employee who ran propulsion engineering and later served as the company's propulsion chief technology officer before retiring in November 2020, started Impulse Space in September 2021. Neither Sept. 22 announcement, on the contract or the funding, discloses what share of Impulse's revenue now comes from government work versus commercial customers.

The next milestone that would test whether the pace of contract wins is converting into an operating launch business is Helios, Impulse's high-energy kick stage, which the company has said is on track for its first flight in 2027.