After spending more than a year and a half in near-total stealth mode, Israeli startup Moonshot Space is finally stepping into the spotlight—quietly is not part of the plan.
The company is unveiling an electromagnetic acceleration system that aims to transform how payloads are delivered to space and how hypersonic technologies are developed on Earth.
Moonshot has raised $12 million to date, led by Angular Ventures, including a $1 million grant from the Israel Innovation Authority. The company was founded in 2024 by Hilla Haddad Chmelnik, former director general of the Ministry of Science and a member of the Iron Dome development team; Fred Simon, co-founder of software company JFrog; and Shahar Bahiri, co-founder of the AI-driven smart mobility company Valerann.
Joining the founding team is a leadership roster that would stand out even in a mature aerospace prime: Gil Eilam, former chief systems engineer for the David’s Sling missile defense system; Ran Livne, former CEO of the Ramon Foundation and head of Israel’s second astronaut mission; and Alon Ushpiz, former director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and former ambassador to India. Moonshot’s 32-person team operates primarily out of Caesarea, where its first accelerator is under construction.
At the core of Moonshot’s work is a high-power electromagnetic launcher capable of propelling objects to hypersonic speeds of up to 8 kilometers per second, using electricity instead of chemical propellants. It looks like science fiction hardware but is designed around two specific use cases: delivering raw materials and supplies to orbital assets, and dramatically accelerating the development of hypersonic systems through high-throughput, low-cost testing.
In the space domain, Moonshot’s system sidesteps the traditional rocket equation entirely. By launching cargo without chemical propulsion, it boosts the payload fraction from the roughly 4 percent common in today’s rockets to more than 45 percent. That change enables frequent, rapid and inexpensive resupply missions to space stations, satellites and future in-space infrastructure.
Moonshot is not positioning itself as a competitor to heavy-lift rockets like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 or Starship. Instead, it aims to become the logistics layer those rockets depend on. Its dedicated cargo launcher is designed to deliver fuels, materials and consumables to spacecraft already in orbit. The company has already signed preliminary agreements with two major in-orbit servicing firms: Italy’s D-Orbit and U.S.-based Orbit Fab. Moonshot argues that scalable, low-cost cargo delivery is a key enabler for the next phase of the space economy, including in-space manufacturing, private space stations, tourism and orbital data centers.
In parallel, the company is building a scaled-down accelerator designed for hypersonic testing. The facility will be capable of driving test bodies to Mach 6 and is targeted directly at the global hypersonics race. The United States is currently investing in its GOLDEN DOME program, and Israel continues to develop systems such as Arrow 3 and David’s Sling. But testing remains a bottleneck: developers must rely on partial simulations, wind tunnels or costly missile launches. Moonshot’s accelerator is intended to boost testing throughput from one test per week to several per day, with costs reduced by an order of magnitude.