The startup has a diverse team of 32 chemical, material, and aerospace engineers, including Gil Eilam, former chief system engineer for the David\u2019s Sling missile defense system; and Ran Livne, former CEO of the Ramon Foundation and head of Israel\u2019s second astronaut mission. Alon Ushpiz, a former Foreign Ministry director has also joined the team, which operates primarily from Caesarea, where its first accelerator is under construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are using the unique know-how of Israel\u2019s defense industry which has a proven track record of developing very complex systems such as the Iron Dome or the Arrow in a very short time with cheaper development costs,\u201d Haddad Chmelnik said.<\/p>\n
\t She said the company, which will eventually need to build a larger accelerator outside of Israel, hopes to reach space within five years.<\/p>\n The startup\u2019s accelerator launch system will consist of a long, round tube, similar to the barrel of a cannon, with a rail running along its length. A hardened payload capsule will be sped along the rail by a series of coils that generate an electromagnetic wave until it is launched out the end and into space at speeds of up to eight kilometers per second, the startup said.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of rocket boosters burning vast amounts of fuel, the energy comes from electricity, which accelerates through the coils,\u201d said Haddad Chmelnik. \u201cThere is capacitor that gets the energy and then releases it to the coils and the capsule goes through this tube and is going out to the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n While a conventional rocket launched into space can carry a maximum of 4% of its weight as payload, a kinetic launch boosts payload capacity to around 45% by getting rid of the need for heavy fuel tanks, said Haddad Chmelnik.<\/p>\n The system will reduce the cost of supplying equipment, fuels, and raw materials to space stations and satellites to a tenth of traditional rocket launches, the company claimed.<\/p>\n Haddad Chmelnik said the launch system will enable frequent, rapid and inexpensive resupply of materials to space stations, satellites and future in-space infrastructure, but will not be suitable for astronauts or humans because of the high g-force created by the acceleration.<\/p>\n \t The space launch system will be designed for small-to-medium payload deliveries of resources and equipment, complementing heavy-lift rockets like SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 or Starship.<\/p>\n The startup\u2019s $12 million funding is led by London-based venture capital firm Angular Ventures and includes a $1 million grant from the Israel Innovation Authority. Moonshot said it had signed preliminary agreements with space logistics and transportation services provider, including Italy\u2019s D Orbit and US\u2013based Orbit Fab.<\/p>\n \t \u201cOur first milestone is to build an electromagnetic mass accelerator that can take a mass of a few kilos to a hypersonic speed to be developed in Israel and after that, we will need to build a bigger accelerator, which will require facilities outside of Israel, but the R&D will stay here,\u201d said Haddad Chmelnik. \u201cWe think that we can reach space in about five years, depending on additional funding.\u201d<\/p>\n She acknowledged that research teams in the US and China are also working on developing kinetic launch systems and have conducted tests with electromagnetic accelerators, but insisted Moonshot had an edge.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Israel, we have the talent and know-how from the defense industry to do it faster and cheaper,\u201d she remarked.<\/p>\n Need for speed<\/p>\n In parallel to its space venture, Moonshot is building a scaled-down accelerator designed for defense firms to conduct hypersonic testing, shortening the development times of hypersonic weapons amid a global race to build ever-faster missiles and other arms.<\/p>\n Hypersonic weapons, which fly at speeds in excess of Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, pose challenges to missile defense systems because of their speed and maneuverability.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cToday, the United States is investing heavily in its Golden Dome program,<\/a> and Israel continues to advance systems like Arrow 3 and David\u2019s Sling,\u201d said Haddad Chmelnik. \u201cBut testing remains a bottleneck: developers rely on partial simulations, wind tunnels or extremely expensive missile launches.\u201d<\/p>\n Moonshot\u2019s Mach-6 hypersonic testing accelerator will be designed to increase trials from one test per week to several per day, with \u201ccosts reduced by an order of magnitude,\u201d the startup said.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/\u05de\u05d9\u05d9\u05e1\u05d3\u05d9-Moonshot-\u05de\u05d9\u05de\u05d9\u05df-\u05e4\u05e8\u05d3-\u05e1\u05d9\u05de\u05d5\u05df-\u05d4\u05d9\u05dc\u05d4-\u05d7\u05d3\u05d3-\u05d7\u05de\u05dc\u05e0\u05d9\u05e7-\u05e9\u05d7\u05e8-\u05d1\u05d4\u05d9\u05e8\u05d9-1-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tMoonshot startup founders (from right to left): Fred Simon, co-founder of software unicorn JFrog; Hilla Haddad Chmelnik, former Director-General of the Science Ministry and member of the Iron Dome development team; and Shahar Bahiri, co-founder of the AI smart mobility company Valerann. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AFP__20240630__34ZZ8KV__v1__HighRes__YemenConflict-e1720453374514-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tA handout picture obtained from Yemen\u2019s Houthi Ansarullah Media Center on June 26, 2024, shows what they said was a test launch for the Hatem 2 hypersonic ballistic missile in an undisclosed area. (ANSARULLAH MEDIA CENTRE \/ AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/moonshot2-300x480.jpg\")
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\n\t\tIsraeli space tech startup Moonshot\u2019s high-voltage electronic printed circuit board. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n
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