Morpheus Space Backed by Industry Leaders to Revolutionize In-Space Mobility
Company is leading the next wave of disruption in the New Space age
Executive Summary
· Morpheus Space, a US & German propulsion startup, has closed its first private funding round led by Vsquared Ventures and includes Lavrock Ventures, Airbus Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Pallas Ventures and Techstars.
· Thrusters make history with successful in-orbit maneuver to avoid potential collision.
· Richard V. Spencer, former Secretary of the Navy, has joined the Board of Directors of Morpheus Space.
Morpheus Space closed its first funding round, led by Vsquared Ventures and joined by Lavrock Ventures, Airbus Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Pallas Ventures and Techstars. This concludes a momentous summer in which a Morpheus Space nano-thruster performed an in-orbit maneuver that successfully avoided a potential collision of satellites and scattering of harmful debris.
Daniel Bock, CEO & Co-founder of Morpheus Space commented, “We are more than thrilled to close our funding round with an incredibly strong syndicate, especially in these difficult times. I believe such times bear enormous potential for disruption and we are excited to herald the second phase of the NewSpace revolution with Morpheus Space. I am also proud to announce that our fast-growing team is enriched by Richard V. Spencer as a new member on our Board of Directors. This is just the beginning to what I’m sure will be an exhilarating journey for us and the entire space industry.”
The company’s first propulsion system, NanoFEEP, secured space qualification in 2019. In July of 2020 the UWE-4 satellite, a 1 kg Nano-satellite from the University of Würzburg successfully avoided a collision with an out-of-service Iridium satellite by using its NanoFEEP thrusters — an event that could have developed into an environmental disaster.
Morpheus Space offers the smallest and most efficient satellite propulsion systems that provide in-orbit mobility for the widest range of satellite sizes. The team, the vision, and the product line have convinced industry leaders to join the company to accelerate the widespread implementation of Morpheus Space’s technologies.
“German engineering has a longstanding tradition in the world-wide aerospace industry. Morpheus Space takes a key role within the rapidly emerging NewSpace economy. Its electric propulsion system is a game changer that enables many existing space applications and opens entirely new business opportunities ranging from ultra-low Earth orbits to deep space exploration. The USA being the driving force behind new space business is crucial to bringing deep-tech concepts to markets and life. As Germany’s leading new space investor, we are therefore proud to join forces early on with strong US partners.” — Herbert Mangesius, Founding Partner at Vsquared Ventures (lead investor)
István Lőrincz, President & Co-founder of Morpheus Space adds: “With this newly gained momentum, we will increase our production capacity, upgrade our propulsion systems with an autopilot and various other software services that will enable the safe autonomous operation of satellites.”
Comments from investors and industry leaders on the news:
“Given the significant investment and overall growth in new satellite constellations expected over the next ten years, the satellite industry is thirsting for ways to reduce mission costs and deliver new capabilities in a flexible way. Morpheus Space’s efficient, highly scalable propulsion systems enable a host of new capabilities related to collision avoidance, de-orbiting, and constellation agility. Lavrock is ecstatic to have the opportunity to back this world-class team in its effort to drive the satellite industry to new heights.” — Steve Smoot, General Partner at Lavrock Ventures
“At Airbus Ventures we’re proud to add Morpheus Space to our global portfolio of innovative space investments,” remarks Airbus Ventures Financial Officer Claas Carsten Kohl. “We’re pleased to support Daniel, István and their outstanding team in their mission of making impressively efficient space propulsion technologies globally available to providers of small satellites and constellations, further accelerating the growth of a vital new sector for private services in space.” Airbus Ventures Partner Nicole Conner adds: “With this investment in Morpheus Space together with the round lead Vsquared Ventures and co-investors Lavrock Ventures, IQT and Pallas Ventures we’re pleased to help connect key clusters of New Space excellence in Germany and the United States globally into the New Space ecosystem.”
“Pallas Ventures is very excited to join experienced European investors in backing Morpheus Space, a groundbreaking company poised to be a leader in the next generation of space. Morpheus has built an impressive capability and has the team to deliver for both public and private sector customers worldwide.” — Richard Spencer, Managing Director at Pallas Ventures
“This is such an exciting moment for Morpheus. They’ve come so far since we invested in them last summer through the Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator. Their groundbreakingly efficient space propulsion systems are impressing customers across the entire space industry — civil, commercial and military.” — Matt Kozlov, Managing Director of the Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator
“On-orbit maneuverability remains limited for many space systems, particularly for small spacecraft. Affordable, reliable, and high-performance electric propulsion is a key ingredient for space systems designers desiring high impulse. Morpheus’ solution is a welcome addition to the supply chain and should impact both near Earth and deep space missions using small spacecraft at multiple scales.
It is really exciting to see Morpheus Space graduate from the Techstars space accelerator and be providing value back to the program sponsors and to new investors so quickly.” — Richard French, Director of Space Systems Business Development and Strategy at Rocket Lab
“At Astrocast we think propulsion is a key differentiator for companies wanting to succeed in the new space race,” said Fabien Jordan, CEO of Astrocast. “We are excited to see companies like Morpheus Space developing new technologies that help companies like Astrocast to lead by example in term of sustainability.”
Astrocast is deploying the world’s most advanced Nanosatellite IoT Network with a constellation of 80 nanosatellites that enables bi-directional communications with IoT devices from anywhere in the world. When thinking about the lifecycle of a satellite or a network of satellites, it is critical to anticipate any event that could happen in orbit and would require maneuvers such as pinpoint orbital re-positioning, collision avoidance or deorbiting after the mission is completed.
About Morpheus Space
The space startup Morpheus Space was founded in 2018 and produces ion beam thrusters for satellites. Morpheus Space is a spin-off from the chair of space systems of Technical University of Dresden and has offices in the US and Germany.
Contact
Morpheus Space, Inc.
