The crew and Mk-II Aurora

According to a press release issued June 16, 2026, the suborbital spaceplane company Dawn Aerospace has now raised an additional $25 million in private investment capital, more than doubling the amount of money raised by the company.

Dawn Aerospace today announced the close of its Series B funding round, raising $25 million at a $195 million post-money valuation. The round was led by US-based VC, Balerion Space Ventures.

Since its Series A in 2022, Dawn Aerospace has become the leading provider of non-toxic chemical propulsion worldwide with 200 thrusters in space on more than 50 satellites. Dawn has also flown supersonic with the Aurora suborbital spaceplane, making it the first privately developed aircraft to fly supersonic since the Concorde, and one of only two supersonic UAVs operating globally today.

…Commercially, revenue has grown from less than $3 million in FY22 to well over $15 million with growth of over 90% in the last 12 months and cash-flow positive operations.

The company has not only been flying its supersonic small MK-II Aurora spaceplane numerous times successfully, including doing so at least once twice in one day, it has been successfully selling space on those flights.

None of those flights however have been to space. The company says it launch a bigger version of Aurora within the next 12 months with the capability of reaching suborbital space, and plans to begin regular suborbital spaceplane flights from Oklahoma in 2027. It also hopes to demonstrate in orbit a refueling system for satellites by 2028.

If it succeeds, it will likely grab the market share that Blue Origin’s has abandoned when it shut down its New Shepard suborbital capsule, and that Virgin Galactic has lost by not flying for the past few years. Moreover, even if these companies resume suborbital operations, because Dawn’s spaceplanes are not designed for human flight, they are likely much cheaper to fly, and will grab more business.