Morpheus Space raises USD 15 million in Series A+
Dresden — Morpheus Space has raised over USD 15 million in a new financing round from investors Alpine Space Ventures, the European Investment Fund, Lavrock, Morpheus Ventures, Pallas, Vsquared and others. This will be used to drive the company’s next phase of growth and innovation.
As more and more satellites populate Earth orbit, operators need propulsion systems that allow them to fly around debris and other satellites without incurring additional costs. Morpheus Space solves this problem with electric thrusters like the GO‑2, designed for large satellite constellations.
Morpheus recently received $15 million in strategic funding from investors including Alpine Space Ventures, the European Investment Fund, Lavrock, Morpheus Ventures, Pallas, Vsquared and others.
This fresh capital is intended to boost production at the headquarters in Dresden and bring more talent on board so that the company can deliver even faster.
The reloaded facility in Dresden will allow us to scale production to 100 units per year, with the ability to expand to 500 units as customer demand and constellation programs grow. We have a strong team in place today and continue to hire additional technical staff to support this production expansion,” shares CEO Kevin Lausten
Keeping satellites agile and safe as space gets more crowded
Morpheus was founded in 2021 at the Technical University of Dresden by Daniel Bock, István Lőrincz, Christian Schunk, Christian Boy and Philipp Laufer, all experts in German drive technology.
Seeing a need for mass-produced engines to keep up with the increasingly frequent launches, the team expanded its operations and opened a facility in California. The GO‑2 and similar systems deliver powerful thrust with low fuel consumption, making them ideal for maneuvers in high-traffic orbits.
Kevin Lausten: “GO‑2 is characterized by its reliability and efficiency, which is based on a design with 40 fully independent drive units. This redundancy prevents the single-point failures associated with other electric drive systems. Each thruster is individually controlled and driven, delivering consistent, highly efficient power over a long period of time. GO‑2’s proprietary low melting point metallic propellant reduces thermal stress and energy requirements, and its faster heat-up time of 30 to 45 minutes compared to up to 2 hours for other systems gives operators far more flexibility.
He adds: “The system is also easy to use, requiring only three steps to start the drive, and it uses carbon nanotube cold cathodes, which eliminate the power consumption and short life of conventional thermal cathodes.”
While chemical rockets use up their fuel quickly, Morpheus relies on electric propulsion for longer-lasting, more sustainable performance. The company has already overtaken competitors such as ThrustMe, Exotrail and ArianeGroup in production for satellite constellations.
Lausten concludes: “In a future characterized by autonomous, maneuverable satellite constellations, Morpheus Space sees itself as the backbone of sustainability in orbit. GO‑2’s highly efficient FEEP propulsion delivers high total impulse in a compact package, while its 40 individually controllable thrusters enable precise, long-duration maneuvers that keep constellations agile, responsive and safe.”
www.morpheus.space/company
Alpine Space Ventures
Alpine Space Ventures raised a total of 170 million euros in its first fund 2024. Investors included the European Innovation Fund, the NATO Investment Fund and several family offices such as Munich-based Primepulse.
The Munich-based venture capitalist is unique in its focus to date: the fund only invests in space start-ups worldwide. Bulent Altan and Joram Voelklein are behind the fund. — www.alpinespace.vc