Kiwi entrepreneur on board as rocket startup attracts $3.4m
A startup backed by New Zealand investors and founded by two Auckland brothers is planning to send satellites into space using reusable rockets.
Dawn Aerospace this week raised $3.35 million of investment from New Zealand, American and Dutch investors, including Kiwi entrepreneur Derek Handley’s Aera VC.
Dawn Aerospace makes reusable rockets designed to carry small satellites into space. They are designed to be capable of multiple flights per day.
The company also makes propulsion systems for small satellites to manoeuvre them in space.
The money raised will be used to commercialise its satellite propulsion systems and begin development of its Mk-II Spaceplane.
Crown entity Callaghan Innovation has also provided a $150,000 project grant to the company for testing and developing the Mk-I Spaceplane.
Dawn Aerospace was founded by five engineers: Kiwi brothers Stefan and James Powell, Jeroen Wink of the Netherlands, and Tobias Knop and Robert Werner of Germany.
The Companies Office shows the firm was registered to an address in Remuera, Auckland.
The Powells collectively hold a 44 per cent strake in the company. The rest is owned by three individuals and a company, all based in the Netherlands.
The latest investment round was led by New Zealand investor Tuhua Ventures, with investment from Aera VC, as well as Erik Swan, the founder of Splunk, a Nasdaq-listed software company worth more than $20 billion.
The first Dawn Aerospace satellite propulsion system is scheduled to be launched into space from French Guiana, on the northeast coast of South America, in July.
Its flagship spacecraft, the Mk-II Spaceplane, is expected to take flight in 2020. Dawn Aerospace co-founder Stefan Powell said the Mk-II would be the first ever vehicle to fly to space twice in a single day.
‘‘It will be the first in a series of reusable spacecraft that will revolutionise access to space in what is an incredibly exciting time for the industry, especially here in New Zealand.’’
New Zealand-founded rocket company Rocket Lab had previously propelled New Zealand into the consciousness of the international space community with the development of its Electron rocket.
The single-use rocket allows companies to send satellites into space at a fraction of the cost of previously existing methods.
Dawn Aerospace’s primary research, manufacturing and test facilities are in Auckland and Delft, the Netherlands.