Bridenstine joins a company with about 75 employees, founded by billionaire businessman Kam Ghaffarian, who previously founded\u00a0two other space companies, Intuitive Machines and Axiom Space. Quantum Space is currently privately capitalized, having raised $80 million in Series A funding, and Bridenstine said he will be considering various opportunities to raise further capital.<\/p>\n
The company plans to launch its first Ranger spacecraft in July 2027 to demonstrate a number of the vehicle\u2019s propulsion capabilities. Quantum is developing some elements of the spacecraft, but sourcing others from industry, including some of its propulsion capabilities.<\/p>\n
Happy to see Artemis soaring<\/p>\n
While he was at NASA, Bridenstine created the Artemis Program, which represents the space agency\u2019s efforts to return humans to the Moon in a more permanent way than Apollo. During his tenure leading NASA, Bridenstine championed commercial space as a means of reducing NASA\u2019s costs while increasing its capabilities. He now hopes to be part of a generation of commercial space companies also doing this for the US military.<\/p>\n
Bridenstine said he applauded efforts by NASA\u2019s current administrator, Jared Isaacman, to increase the cadence of Artemis launches<\/a> to accelerate America\u2019s return to the Moon.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s important, and I think he\u2019s making the right decisions for the right reasons,\u201d Bridenstine said of Isaacman\u2019s initiative. \u201cI also think it\u2019s overdue. He talks about making sure we\u2019re exercising our muscle memory, and that\u2019s what we need to do. I\u2019m super excited about the success of Artemis II. We need to benefit from the success of Artemis II.\u201d<\/p>\n
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