Moonshot Space, an Israeli startup, has emerged from stealth mode with a groundbreaking $12 million funding round, led by Angular Ventures, including a $1 million grant from the Israel Innovation Authority. Founded in 2024 by Hilla Haddad Chmelnik, Fred Simon, and Shahar Bahiri, the company is set to revolutionize the space industry with its innovative electromagnetic acceleration system.
Moonshot's technology is designed to accelerate payloads to hypersonic speeds, reaching up to 8 kilometers per second, using electricity instead of chemical propellants. This system has two primary applications: delivering raw materials and supplies to orbital assets and significantly reducing the cost and time required for hypersonic technology development through high-throughput testing.
The company's founding team boasts an impressive lineup of industry veterans, including Gil Eilam, Ran Livne, and Alon Ushpiz, who bring a wealth of experience in aerospace, defense, and government. With a 32-person team based in Caesarea, Moonshot is well-positioned to make a significant impact in the space sector.
One of the key advantages of Moonshot's system is its ability to bypass the traditional rocket equation. By eliminating chemical propulsion, it increases the payload fraction to over 45 percent, enabling frequent, rapid, and cost-effective resupply missions to space stations, satellites, and future in-space infrastructure. This makes it an attractive solution for the next phase of the space economy, including in-space manufacturing, private space stations, tourism, and orbital data centers.
Moonshot is not competing with heavy-lift rockets like SpaceX's Falcon 9 or Starship. Instead, it aims to become the logistics backbone for these rockets, delivering fuels, materials, and consumables to spacecraft already in orbit. The company has already secured preliminary agreements with D-Orbit and Orbit Fab, two major in-orbit servicing firms, solidifying its position in the market.
In parallel to its orbital cargo delivery system, Moonshot is developing a scaled-down accelerator for hypersonic testing, targeting the global hypersonics race. The United States and Israel are both investing in hypersonic programs, but testing remains a significant bottleneck. Moonshot's accelerator is designed to increase testing throughput and reduce costs, potentially revolutionizing the development process for hypersonic technologies.
