After 18 months in near-total secrecy, Israeli start-up Moonshot Space has stepped into the spotlight with ambitions that aim to reshape orbital logistics and hypersonic weapons testing.
Backed by $12 million in funding led by Angular Ventures, including a $1 million grant from the Israel Innovation Authority, the company is unveiling a high-power electromagnetic launcher designed to propel payloads at hypersonic speeds, without relying on chemical propellants.
Moonshot’s founding team reflects the intersection of Israel’s defense and technology ecosystems. Hilla Haddad Chmelnik, former director-general of the Innovation, Science, and Technology Ministry and a member of the Iron Dome development team, co-founded the company alongside Fred Simon, co-founder of software unicorn JFrog, and Shahar Bahiri, co-founder of smart mobility company Valerann.
They are joined by senior figures from Israel’s aerospace and diplomatic circles, such as Gil Eilam, former chief system 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 Foreign Ministry (2020 to 2023) and ambassador to India (2011 to 2014).
The company’s 32-person team is based in Caesarea, where its first accelerator is under construction.
“This is a very ambitious project. It’s a moonshot, just like its name,” Chmelnik told Defense & Tech by The Jerusalem Post. “Over the last decade, the technology needed for this has become far more affordable, and the space sector urgently needs new technologies.”
At the core of Moonshot’s technology is a high-power electromagnetic acceleration system capable of driving objects to hypersonic speeds of up to 8 km. per second. By replacing chemical propellants with electricity, the company claims it can bypass the traditional rocket equation and increase payload fractions from the 4% typical of today’s rockets to more than 45%.
Frequent trips to space
That leap could enable frequent, low-cost resupply missions to satellites, space stations, and future orbital infrastructure. It could also enable technology for the next decade of space economy, from in-space manufacturing to private stations, tourism, and orbital data centers.
“Many companies are going to space. Look at Rocket Lab in New Zealand, SpaceX in the US… There’s a lot of civilian and government money going into space these days, around $600 billion, and in the next decade, it’s expected to triple. That’s driven by civilian needs like data centers, tourism, and [the] mining of unique materials such as lithium,” Haddad Chmelnik said.
She highlighted data centers as a key driver, saying that on Earth, there isn’t enough energy or cooling solutions.
“The data center issue is critical,” she said. “Nvidia already sent a GPU [graphics processing unit] to space with Starcloud to do space computing, and Sam Altman is talking about moving data centers to space. The biggest disadvantage of data centers is the high energy demand. In space, you can use solar energy, and you don’t need to cool them down.”
Moonshot is not positioning itself as a rival to heavy-lift rockets such as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 or Starship. Instead, it aims to become the logistics backbone for orbital operations, delivering fuels, materials, and consumables to spacecraft already in orbit – at a fraction of the cost.
The company has already signed preliminary agreements with Italy’s D-Orbit and US-based Orbit Fab, both leaders in in-orbit servicing.
While the company’s research and development will remain in Israel, the physical launcher will ultimately be built abroad.
“It cannot be physically built in Israel. In the end, it will be built in Alaska, but the R&D and engineering will stay here, and that’s a big advantage,” she explained. “We have extremely talented people in the defense industry who are not yet working in the civil arena, and this is a chance to bring them in.”
Not only space
In parallel with its orbital vision, Moonshot is building a scaled-down accelerator for hypersonic testing. The facility will be capable of driving test bodies to Mach 6, offering a faster and cheaper alternative to wind tunnels and missile launches.
The vision for Moonshot is expansive. “This is a company that can become [a] multi-trillion [dollar company]. It will be the first big aerospace company in Israel that is not defense-related. Moonshot is aiming for civil use over defense, though in space, everything is dual-use by definition,” Haddad Chmelnik told the Post.
Today, developers of hypersonic systems often rely on partial simulations or extremely expensive missile tests, creating bottlenecks in development. Moonshot’s accelerator is designed to increase throughout from one test per week to several per day while reducing costs by an order of magnitude.
The timing is significant. The United States is investing heavily in its Golden Dome program, while Israel continues to advance missile defense systems such as Arrow 3 and David’s Sling.
Hypersonic testing remains one of the most pressing challenges in this global race. By offering rapid, repeatable, and affordable trials, Moonshot hopes to accelerate development cycles and give Israel – and its partners – a competitive edge.
“There’s a big need in the defense sector for testing,” she said, adding, “There’s already interest from defense companies around the world, and the testing facility will be in Israel. This is the product the defense sector needs, and it will help us mature our technology. Because we are always aiming for space.”
For Haddad Chmelnik, aerospace engineering is as much about belief as it is about physics.
“It’s the same physics whether you’re building a bridge or a missile that goes to space. But aerospace engineers must be optimistic dreamers. You cannot touch space; you need to believe in science.”
And on a personal note, she added, “I really do want to go to space… If I ever have the chance, I won’t miss it.”