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Dispatch from the frontier
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Space-Tech
Defense
Mars
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There are Angels & VC’s; then there is Daddy Pentagon
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For humanity to step foot one day in Amazonis Planitia on Mars, the pathway will be through the corridors of the Pentagon.
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In December 2025, the U.S. government announced the Golden Dome project; an ambitious plan to build a missile shield prototype by 2028. And while it’s not obvious, the big players like SpaceX are not the only entities in play.
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Their legacy of hiring the best of the best has spun off multiple space-tech startups who are challenging the mothership in their own way. This week we will take you through a few, the ones making interplanetary waves.
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Apex — Project Shadow Orbital Magazine
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Apex is repping new startups gunning for the Golden Dome with Project Shadow. And it’s BEYOND IMPRESSIVE.
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$200M
Series D
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2022
Founded
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2026
First Test
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They just raised a Series D $200 mil round, led by Interlagos, a venture capital firm founded by former SpaceX employees… ahem… ahem…
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Building a space-based interceptor (SBI) for a company formed in 2022 seems like a massive stretch, but they are doing some sci-fi shit.
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Instead of building single, extremely expensive “exquisite” satellites, Apex has created the Orbital Magazine. +2 space points for that badass name.
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Think of it as a “host” satellite that acts like a garage or a missile rack in space. They have claimed that they will be testing this out by 2026; we’ll hold them to their word.
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| MARS PIVOT |
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This tech can potentially be the foundation to build a giant toolbox in space, solving for post-orbital issues on our way to the Red Planet.
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Astranis — Vanguard Satellite Network
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The good folks at Astranis are busy building Vanguard. A deployable satellite network currently being designed for warfighters and first responders.
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Big woof, even Starlink does that… not really. Starlink uses thousands of satellites flying very low (about 550 km up). Because they are low, they move fast across the sky, and your dish has to constantly “hand off” the signal from one satellite to the next. Leading to the space litter that astronomers hate.
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Vanguard uses a single satellite parked very high up (35,000 km) supplemented by a team-based “mesh” network. If you’re in a tunnel and can’t see the satellite, your radio “hops” the signal to a teammate outside who can. Starlink doesn’t do this; every dish must see the sky to work.
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This stability is key to high-crit situations where LOS can have grave consequences.
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| MARS PIVOT |
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This infrastructure-lite approach means that a similar system on Mars could use a small orbiting satellite to link rovers, drones, and habitats into a single, self-forming network — saving us tens if not hundreds of launches.
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Impulse Space — High-Thrust Orbital Vehicle
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Founded by SpaceX (again) propulsion legend/god/almighty Tom Mueller, Impulse solves a very interesting problem for the — wait for it — Space Force (cue dramatic music).
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The Space Force is tired of “sitting duck” satellites. Basically if there was an object hurtling towards them, these satellites would not have enough gas in the tank to move and not be blown into a kazillion pieces.
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By strapping on, Impulse’s Helios vehicle acts as a high-thrust “sprint” getaway solution. Instead of casually “drifting” in space, satellites will be able to “drive” in space. Maneuverability is the new stealth.
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| MARS PIVOT |
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Helios runs on LOX/Methane, the exact fuel we’ll eventually manufacture on the Red Planet. By perfecting these high-thrust engines for “Daddy Pentagon” today, Impulse is secretly building the logistics for the first Martian warehouse tomorrow.
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That’s all for this week folks! Send us recommendations for space-tech startups that you would want us to feature next. In the meantime…
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Happy Sols
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