Muon Space, a Mountain View, CA company developing end-to-end satellite systems, today announced the closing of a $44.5M extension of its Series B fundraising round and the acquisition of propulsion startup Starlight Engines.
Congruent Ventures led the extension, bringing in ArcTern Ventures as a new investor alongside previous backers ACME Capital, Costanoa Ventures, and Radical Ventures.
All told, Muon has raised $135M in equity capital since its founding in 2021. It’s used that money to build and operate its own satellites, as well as to develop a space services business to deploy payloads for other organizations.
When it rains: CEO and co-founder Jonny Dyer said the deal was driven by outside interest—and that he still expects to raise a Series C next year. Investors are trying to get a piece of satellite action as commercial and government demand grows; Dyer says Muon has been hitting internal targets, with $100M of new contracts signed in 2024.
In addition to the extension funding, the startup announced a $45M credit facility to support its capital investments.
Go big: “It’s dramatically scaling up our ability to build,” Dyer said of the funding, pointing to the development of a 130,000 sq ft. production facility in San Jose expected to open this summer. The company plans to produce 500 spacecraft a year in that facility. “We’ll be putting a lot of test equipment in so that we can have as much in-house capability to move systems through as quickly as possible.”
Muon expects to launch four spacecraft this year and 12 in 2026. If it hits target production rates, it will launch 100 satellites in 2027.
First star I see tonight: Muon also announced its acquisition of Starlight for an undisclosed price. The propulsion startup, founded by Apollo Fusion veterans Todd Bailey and Mark Hopkins in 2022, has developed a zinc-fueled Hall thruster for spacecraft propulsion. A few flight units are already being integrated by customers for future missions.
“As we were looking at the industry for risk reduction in our supply chain around propulsion, Starlight really stood out for the work they had done in a very short period of time,” Dyer said. The first Muon spacecraft with a Starlight thruster is expected to launch early next year.
