The best propulsion space startups
27 propulsion companies in the directory, ranked by disclosed funding ($3.9B raised between them), spanning 9 countries.
The companies building the engines: from staged-combustion rocket motors to iodine-fueled electric thrusters the size of a shoebox. Every other category in this directory moves because of this one.
Updated 9 October 2026 · 26 milestones in the last 90 days · Follow by RSS
State of the sector
As of 9 October 2026
Propulsion covers two businesses. Some companies build the engines that get rockets off the ground: Ursa Major Technologies and Jiuzhou Yunjian sell theirs to other rocket builders, and launch developers such as Stoke Space and Isar Aerospace make their own. Others build the small thrusters that move satellites once they are up, like Enpulsion, ThrustMe, Morpheus Space, Pale Blue and Magdrive.
Small thrusters are now made in volume. ThrustMe passed 100 systems in orbit in June 2025, and in April 2026 it won contracts to equip 40 Japanese Earth observation satellites. Ursa Major Technologies agreed in August 2026 to go public by merging with a blank-check company. Magdrive's first orbital demonstration generated plasma but never moved its spacecraft.
Reaction Engines worked on SABRE for 35 years. The engine was meant to take aircraft from a standing start to hypersonic flight. The company went into administration in October 2024, and in June 2026 an undisclosed buyer paid £884,000 for its intellectual property. Phase Four was split up in 2025, and its thruster lines went to Apex and Quantum Space.
Latest milestones
Every dated event from the companies below, newest first, each with its source.
Pale Blue: Wins additional SBIR Phase 3 funding from Japan's science ministry for its in-orbit demonstration
Rocket Factory Augsburg: Names Alexander Dahm CEO, succeeding Indulis Kalnins
Ursa Major Technologies: US Navy awards two contracts worth $137M to develop solid rocket motors for the Compact Air-to-Air Missile and the Naval Modular Missile
Interstellar Technologies: Japan's science ministry allocates an extra ¥3.93B to the ZERO rocket under the SBIR Phase 3 fundRocket Factory Augsburg: Receives €2.7M more under ESA's Boost! programme, funded by the UK Space Agency, for its SaxaVord ground segment and hot-fire test stands
Isar Aerospace: Co-founder Josef Fleischmann hands over his operational role to found Bavaria Instruments, and Can Araz becomes CTO
Impulse Space: Adds a $308M extension to its Series D, taking the round to $808M, and hires its first CFO
ThrustMe: GomSpace fits about 40 ThrustMe propulsion systems to satellites in production; the first is due to launch in October 2026Isar Aerospace: SEOPS books five dedicated Spectrum launches for 2028 to 2030 from Andøya and Nova Scotia
NewOrbit Space: Books a launch for NEO-1 in the third quarter of 2028 through the broker RIDE!, with Genesia as its first announced payload customerShow 40 earlier milestones
ThrustMe: Delivers its JPT150, billed as the first iodine-fuelled Hall thruster, to Reflex Aerospace to power MarbleSat-1
Stoke Space: Raises a $1B first close of a Series E led by Point72 Ventures and Spark Capital, taking total funding to $2.3B; Nova's debut is now early 2027Isar Aerospace: Spectrum reaches orbit on its second flight, the first orbital launch from Western European soil, and releases five cubesats and a DLR experimentIsar Aerospace: Signs a launch contract with Astroscale Japan to fly the ADRAS-J2 debris-removal mission on Spectrum from Andøya in 2027 or 2028NewOrbit Space: Builds six engineering models of the latest AURA and starts qualification testing, due to finish in the first quarter of 2027
Agnikul Cosmos: India's Technology Development Board agrees to provide ₹200 crore, in convertible debentures, toward a reusable AgnibaanIsar Aerospace: ESA awards a €197.8M European Launcher Challenge contract for Spectrum flights through 2030 and vehicle upgradesRocket Factory Augsburg: ESA awards a €186.9M European Launcher Challenge contract for RFA ONE flights through 2030 and vehicle upgradesThrustMe: Passes 500 propulsion systems delivered and 242 launched, flying in more than 25 constellationsUrsa Major Technologies: Agrees to go public by merging with Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. III at about $2.3B post-money; at least $350M of PIPE capital is committed and closing is expected in early 2027
Letara: Raises ¥2.6B (about $16M) led by Headline Asia, JIC Venture Growth Investments and Incubate Fund, ahead of an in-orbit firing test
Portal Space Systems: Buys a whole SpaceX Falcon 9 for its 2028 Motus Via Sol mission, the first Supernova flight; Maverick sells the spare capacity
Enpulsion: Signs an agreement to acquire Lift Me Off LtdImpulse Space: Space Force adds $28M to its contract for two more Mira vehicles, for the Victus Salo 2 and 3 responsive-space missionsRocket Factory Augsburg: Tank problem forces a destack, cancelling the launch window
Skyroot Aerospace: Vikram-1 reaches orbit on its first flight, the first orbital launch by a private Indian companyUrsa Major Technologies: US Navy awards $10 million to develop the MK 104 solid motorImpulse Space: The Mira from LEO Express-2 closes to within about 200 metres of the Mira from LEO Express-3, and the two photograph each otherImpulse Space: Raises a $500M Series D led by 137 Ventures and Banner VC, taking total funding past $1B a year after the Series C
Reaction Engines: An undisclosed buyer completes an £884,000 purchase of the IPStoke Space: Completes Nova first-stage structural verification ahead of the rocket’s debutNewOrbit Space: Wins a €400,000 ESA GSTP contract to bring AURA to launch readinessSkyroot Aerospace: Raises $60M at a $1.1B valuation, becoming India's first space tech unicornAgnikul Cosmos: Test-fires four Agnilet engines together as a cluster, a step toward the orbital AgnibaanPale Blue: Its water ion thruster and water resistojet both operate in orbit on JAXA's RAISE-4ThrustMe: Contracts above ten million euros to equip 40 Japanese Earth observation satellites
Bellatrix Aerospace: Raises a $20M pre-Series B led by Cactus Partners to expand production
Manastu Space: Will supply the propulsion system for GATISat, a 150 kg satellite bus developed with Astrome and TakeMe2SpaceBellatrix Aerospace: Harbinger, its first complete satellite, launches on SpaceX's Transporter-16 and tests Bellatrix's own attitude control system in orbitEnpulsion: Secures €22.5M led by Nordwind Growth to expand into the US, its first big outside raiseRocket Factory Augsburg: First RFA ONE stages shipped to SaxaVord SpaceportPale Blue: Opens its Tsukuba Production Engineering Base for mass production of propulsion systems
Morpheus Space: Secures a $15M strategic investment from Alpine Space Ventures and the European Investment Fund to expand mass productionInterstellar Technologies: Satoshi Nakayama, VP of launch vehicles, becomes co-representative President alongside CEO Takahiro Inagawa
Magdrive: Its orbital demo proves charging and plasma generation but never maneuvers the spacecraftPale Blue: Selected for a Space Strategy Fund theme to develop orbital transfer vehicles, starting full development of its micro-OTVUrsa Major Technologies: Draper engine powers an AFRL missile demonstrator past Mach 1Interstellar Technologies: Completes a ¥20.1B Series F with SBI Group, Nomura Real Estate, B Dash Ventures and SMBC EdgeImpulse Space: In the Remora mission with Starfish Space, the LEO Express-2 Mira closes on its own to within about 1,250 m of the LEO Express-1 MiraNew in propulsion
NewOrbit Space Satellites for very low Earth orbit
Skyroot Aerospace India's first private rocket to orbit
Agnikul Cosmos Rockets on single-piece 3D-printed engines
Bellatrix Aerospace Electric and green thrusters for satellites
Manastu Space Green-propellant thrusters for satellites
Letara Rocket engines that burn plastic
Jiuzhou YunjianMethalox engines for everyone's rockets
All 27 propulsion companies
Ranked by disclosed funding.
Stoke Space The fully reusable Nova rocket
Impulse Space Orbital transfer vehicles
Reaction Engines Shut downAir-breathing rocket engines
Skyroot Aerospace India's first private rocket to orbit
Portal Space Systems Solar-thermal rapid-maneuver spacecraft
Agnikul Cosmos Rockets on single-piece 3D-printed engines
Latitude Zephyr, the dedicated small launcher
Bellatrix Aerospace Electric and green thrusters for satellites
Magdrive Metal-fueled plasma propulsion
Manastu Space Green-propellant thrusters for satellites
Applied Ion Systems LLC Low cost electric propulsion systems
Accion Systems AcquiredSatellite propulsion
Additive Rocket Corporation Dormant3D printing rocket engines
Enpulsion Advanced propulsion systems for small sats
Interstellar Technologies ZERO, the biomethane launcher
Isar Aerospace Spectrum, Europe’s private orbital rocket
Jiuzhou YunjianMethalox engines for everyone's rockets
Letara Rocket engines that burn plastic
Miles Space AcquiredPropulsion and space communications
Morpheus Space Agile electric propulsion
NewOrbit Space Satellites for very low Earth orbit
NewRocket DormantEco-friendly rocket engines
Pale Blue Water-fuelled satellite propulsion
Phase Four AcquiredCompact electric propulsion for space
Rocket Factory Augsburg Small rockets, automotive-style production
ThrustMe Iodine electric propulsion
Ursa Major Technologies Engines for small satellites
How many propulsion space startups are there in 2026?
Space Bandits tracks 27 propulsion companies, 21 of them active, with $3.9B in disclosed funding between them.
What is the latest news from propulsion startups?
The most recent milestone on record is from Pale Blue, dated 7 October 2026: "Wins additional SBIR Phase 3 funding from Japan's science ministry for its in-orbit demonstration."
How many propulsion startups have shut down?
1 of the 27 have shut down, and 2 more have shown no public activity for years. The graveyard records how each one ended.
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