Impulse Space Inc., a Redondo Beach-based spacecraft manufacturing startup, announced a collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to study opportunities to reach obscure parts of space at lower cost.

The collaboration will require Impulse Space to produce two studies on orbital transfer vehicles, which are colloquially known as space tugs. Orbital transfer vehicles are a particular kind of spacecraft that carry payloads from one orbit into another, the studies will enable NASA to understand how to best use these vehicles in future missions.

Impulse Space, which specializes in manufacturing orbital transfer vehicles, has two such vehicles meant to navigate different areas of space. The studies will revolve around those two ‘space tugs.’ One is known as Mira, the company’s smaller vehicle that has been used by military vehicles to put cameras in it and observe space; and the other is dubbed Helios, the newer and larger spacecraft built to deploy larger payloads farther away from Earth.

The company has netted more than 30 contracts with various public sector and private sector partners, together worth around $200 million.

The new generation of space tech

Hawthorne-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (better known as SpaceX) soared in popularity for its goal to make travel from Earth to space less costly and more efficient. Now that space is more accessible, companies like Impulse Space are building the next generation of spacecraft – ones that can bounce from one orbit to another, carry different payloads, and bring them deeper into the abyss of the universe while maintaining cost effectiveness and scalability.

“Mobility is the next great unlock for space,” Tom Mueller, founder and chief executive of Impulse Space, and the first employee at SpaceX, said in a statement. “We’re proud to support NASA’s efforts to explore how commercial in-space mobility can increase mission flexibility, reduce cost, and expand the envelope of what’s possible in orbit.”

A growing space hub

The Los Angeles region was responsible for 30% of the world’s spacecraft funding in 2023, according to PitchBook, thanks to companies founded by onetime SpaceX employees to further iterate on space technology.

“The genesis of Impulse is really to pick up where SpaceX and others left off, which is that getting to space is solved and now we need to figure out how to move things through space efficiently,” Eric Romo, the president and chief operating officer of Impulse Space, said in June.

Indeed, funding is pouring into the local sector, which has already raised $491 million – more than double of what the industry raised last year. Varda Space Industries, an El Segundo-based pharmaceutical payload startup, raised $187 million in series C funding in July. SpinLaunch, a Long Beach-based space startup, raised $30 million in August to develop and commercialize its technology platform meant to deploy satellite infrastructure at a lower cost.

“Validating our reconfigurable reflectarray antenna through full-scale testing confirms we can deliver multi-band capability without the cost and complexity of traditional designs,” David Wrenn, the chief innovation officer at SpinLaunch, said in a statement.