SAN FRANCISCO – Colorado-based ExoTerra Resources raised $8 million to expand production of microsatellite propulsion systems.
The Lago Innovation Fund, part of Lago Asset Management, provided the financing.
The latest investment will help ExoTerra expand its staff and facilities, said ExoTerra CEO Michael VanWoerkom. SpaceNews By email.
“Since our first successful demonstration of the Halo Hall effect thruster last year, we have seen high demand for our propulsion modules,” VanWoerkom said in a statement. “We now have an order book of more than 200 modules to produce.”
With Lago's investment, ExoTerra “will add the assembly, test equipment and personnel we need to increase production from eight modules per month to 20 per month, and successfully meet customer commitments,” VanWoerkom said.
Rapid expansion
ExoTerra's Halo Hall Effect Thrusters fired into orbit for the first time in 2023 on the DARPA Blackjack Aces satellites, manufactured by RTX subsidiary Blue Canyon Technologies.
Since then, the company has expanded rapidly. ExoTerra recently opened a 35,000-square-foot facility near its headquarters in Littleton, Colorado. The new facility is designed to produce 32 propulsion modules per month.
Heather La Freniere, co-founder and managing partner of Lago, said in a statement: “We look for companies that push the boundaries and ExoTerra Resource is quickly proving to be a leader in space technology with its proprietary technology and innovations. “We are excited to be working with this impressive team as they continue to grow and innovate on their path to the future.”
ExoTerra, founded in 2011, designs, manufactures and tests electric propulsion elements for small satellites.
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