An Israeli startup is developing a high-power electromagnetic launcher system designed to propel payloads and enable cargo deliveries into space at hypersonic speed using electricity rather than chemical fuels.

The Caesarea-based Moonshot Space came out of stealth on Monday, announcing it had raised $12 million to build a delivery launch system that uses electric acceleration instead of relying on traditional chemical-based rocket propulsion and expensive missiles to hurl payloads at hypersonic speeds and deliver raw materials and supplies to space at a fraction of the cost.

Moonshot was founded in 2024 by Hilla Haddad Chmelnik, former director-general of the Science Ministry and member of the team that developed the Iron Dome anti-missile system; Fred Simon, co-founder of software unicorn JFrog; and Shahar Bahiri, co-founder of the AI-driven smart mobility company Valerann.

The startup is one of several in Israel and around the world exploring the use of electromagnetic pulses to accelerate a payload to speeds capable of escaping Earth’s gravitational pull. Most designs use high kinetic energy railgun or coilgun concepts, which are also being developed for military use, a field Moonshot is entering as well.

“Space exploration is getting more diverse and more complex in what we want to do involving science, manufacturing, and mining, and as any industry that is evolving, there needs to be more than just one mode of transportation, which for now is based on chemical rockets and is too expensive,” Haddad Chmelnik told The Times of Israel. “The concept of a kinetic spacecraft launch has existed since the days of Jules Verne, but now the technologies, renewable energy, and computing power to make a kinetic launch affordable and achievable are available.”

The startup has a diverse team of 32 chemical, material, and aerospace engineers, including Gil Eilam, former chief system engineer for the David’s Sling missile defense system; and........

© The Times of Israel