Dawn Aerospace

Headquarters

Brooklyn, NY

UEI

HYCTWWMZYNB4

CAGE

9AY74

Founded in 2017, Dawn Aerospace builds reusable space transportation hardware, including the Aurora runway-operated spaceplane and flight-proven nitrous-based satellite propulsion systems. With more than 130 people working across four countries, the company has flown Aurora 64 times and sent more than 200 of its thrusters into orbit. Its aircraft-style approach was underscored in 2024 when Aurora became the first New Zealand-designed and built aircraft to fly supersonically.

• Rocket LabFounded in 2006 by engineer Sir Peter Beck, Rocket Lab is a Long Beach-headquartered space company that designs and manufactures rockets, spacecraft, satellite components and space systems while providing launch and on-orbit mission services. Its Electron small launch vehicle has delivered more than 200 satellites to orbit, while the company develops the reusable Neutron medium-lift rocket and operates launch sites in New Zealand and Virginia. Rocket Lab also manufactures space solar power systems in Albuquerque and spacecraft in an 11,000-square-foot Long Beach cleanroom, giving it an unusually vertically integrated path from mission design to orbit.SILVER SPRING, MD
• RocketStarFounded in 2014 by Christopher Craddock, New York-based RocketStar develops space propulsion and communications technology, from reusable aerospike rocket engines to the FireStar™ family of water-fueled plasma thrusters. Its FireStar™ Fusion Drive builds on that thruster with aneutronic nuclear fusion, while the Phoenix Eye™ software suite applies deep-space signal processing to secure communications and GPS-denied navigation. The company’s small team of scientists and engineers is pursuing more accessible space transportation and mission systems.NEW YORK, NY
• Belen AerospaceFounded by former U.S. Air Force member and physician Alfred Belen III in 2021, Belen Aerospace is developing Internal Atmospheric Propulsion, a proposed electric jet system that uses compressed gas inside a closed container to generate thrust for space travel. The company is advancing the concept through computational-fluid-dynamics simulations, prototype development, and its Jets in Space podcast, with the stated goal of lowering the cost of transporting materials through space.
• Andromeda Space CorporationAndromeda Space Corporation was founded by four engineers who first worked together on high-power rockets in high school. The company is building persistent transportation infrastructure in orbit for commercial and defense customers, beginning with its Perseus vehicle, which is targeted for first flight in 2028.336414STATE COLLEGE, PA