Equatorial Space Systems has raised $1.5 million in a successful seed round led by Elev8.VC, with Seeds Capital and Masik Enterprises joining in, as well.
The round will serve to develop the company’s Dorado commercial sounding rocket family that will provide low-cost space access for science experiments, technology demonstrators and academic payloads.
The Dorado will be propelled by a hybrid rocket motor using a combination of chilled Nitrous Oxide (cNOX), as well as a proprietary, patent-pending solid fuel formulation known as HRF-1AL – which delivers a high regression rate, high density and flight-proven structural integrity. The propellant combination is also non-toxic and low in greenhouse gas emissions. The first launches are slated for mid-2024.
At Elev8.VC, we believe in supporting visionary founders who are creating breakthrough technologies to address humanity’s biggest challenges. Having been following Equatorial’s progress since the beginning, we are thrilled to be a part of their mission to provide safer and more affordable access to space, while also prioritizing the health of our planet.”
Remi Choong, Principal at Elev8.VC
Since our inception nearly six years ago, it was our ambition to become Southeast Asia’s first commercial launch operator and with this vote of confidence from our investors and supporters, we are now on track to make this dream come true. We are humbled and grateful for all the support we received so far, and look forward to building up considerable flight heritage prior to expanding towards orbital launch capability.”
Simon Gwozdz, the Founder and CEO of Equatorial Space
Equatorial Space is a rocket propulsion and space launch startup focused on enabling space access at greatly reduced risk, cost and environmental impact compared to incumbent solutions. It was previously awarded the first prize at the MBRSC Innovation Cup in Dubai in 2018, named one of the Top 500 deep-tech startups by Hello Tomorrow in 2019 and named Most Promising Startup by NAMIC the same year. Besides its headquarters and principal R&D facility in Singapore, the company has presence in the United States and Australia.
