Wyoming gains Momentus for $25.5m

US-based space launch technology supplier Momentus yesterday received $25.5m of funding in a series A round backed by the University of Wyoming Foundation.
The round was led by venture firm Prime Movers Lab and included accelerator Y Combinator as well as Quiet Capital, Mountain Nazca, ACE and Co, Liquid 2 Ventures, Drake Management, the Lerner Family and undisclosed additional investors.
Founded in 2017, Momentus is working on in-space shuttles which use water plasma propulsion to move satellites from one orbit to another.
Momentus’s offering involves picking up satellites already positioned in orbit for transport to the client’s desired final destination via its shuttle. It believes the approach could reduce costs of satellite deployment by two or three-fold and give satellite operators greater flexibility in positioning their fleets.
Money from the series A round will support continued development and in-space testing of Momentus’s first two shuttles – named Vigoride and Vigoride Extended – with the former anticipated to fulfil three orders for transport in 2020.
Proceeds will also fund a recruitment drive and the expansion of Momentus’s research and manufacturing base.
The transaction increased Momentus’s total funding to $34m, it said, following an $8.3m round in November 2018 led by Prime Movers Lab with contributions from One Way Ventures, Y Combinator, Liquid 2 Ventures and Mountain Nazca.
Momentus is a 2018 graduate of Y Combinator’s seed initiative and has leveraged the accelerator’s series A program to seal its latest round.
Dakin Sloss, founder and general partner at Prime Movers Lab, said: “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.”