WASHINGTON — Dawn Aerospace has raised $25 million to scale up its work in both in-space transportation and suborbital spaceplanes.
The company, with facilities in New Zealand and the Netherlands, announced June 16 that it closed a Series B round led by venture capital firm Balerion Space Ventures, with participation from several new and existing investors. The round values Dawn at $196 million.
The company plans to use the funding for a global rollout of its services, establishing teams in the United States and Europe to support customers for satellite propulsion, in-space refueling and its Aurora suborbital spaceplane.
Dawn currently sells thrusters for spacecraft that have flown on more than two dozen missions for government and commercial customers. The company said its annual revenue has grown from $3 million in 2022 to $15 million today, with the company cash-flow positive.
“As a cash-flow-positive company, raising capital is about accelerating the growth of programs we have extremely high conviction in and that our customers are desperate for,” said Stefan Powell, chief executive of Dawn Aerospace, in a statement.
The company’s work goes beyond satellite propulsion. It has been developing Aurora, an uncrewed suborbital spaceplane, flying versions of it at supersonic speeds and altitudes of 25 kilometers. The company is working on a version capable of flying above 100 kilometers altitude and at speeds faster than Mach 3, and announced a year ago a deal to fly Aurora from the Oklahoma Air and Space Port starting in 2027.
Dawn is also working on an in-space refueling system called Loop. That will use docking and refueling ports developed by the company that are already flying on several satellites, bundled as part of thruster systems. A Space Utility Vehicle (SUV) spacecraft Dawn is developing will dock with those satellites, transferring propellant. Loop will also feature expendable propellant depots that the SUV will use for refueling its tanks.
The company is planning an in-space demonstration of Loop in 2028. If successful, the company expects to begin commercial refueling services in 2029.
Dawn Aerospace argues that its spaceplane and in-space refueling technologies can tap into emerging markets in areas ranging from hypersonics testing to in-space mobility. That is what attracted Balerion, the Series B lead investor, to the company.
“Dawn is doing what few in this category have: building real commercial revenue and a spiral path from in-space propulsion and refueling to a hypersonic spaceplane to aircraft-like payload delivery to orbit, all with extraordinary capital efficiency,” said Dan Wallman, a partner at Balerion who is joining Dawn’s board of directors, in a statement.
“As the U.S. and its closest allies build joint capability in space and hypersonics, the West needs partners who can deliver reusable, responsive access across the air and space domain. Dawn is one of them,” he added.
“We’ve built a highly capital-efficient company by focusing on delivering real hardware and generating revenue, rather than burning capital on hype,” said Powell. “This investment is our mandate to double down on our mission for scalable and sustainable space transportation, ultimately to unlock the economic potential of space and solve critical national security challenges at home and with our closest allies.”
