Apex Closes $200 Million in Series D, Tops $1 Billion Valuation

Apex Space, a developer of satellite bus platforms led by Ian Cinnamon, Max Benassi, and Thomas Salzman, among others, has secured $200 million in Series D funding, led by Interlagos. Existing investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Point72 Ventures, and 8VC.

Apex, founded in 2022, develops satellite buses for commercial and government payloads, including Earth-imaging and missile-tracking sensors. Its latest funding will accelerate spacecraft production by 50% and more than double manufacturing capacity. The U.S. government’s $175 billion Golden Dome missile defense initiative has fueled private interest in low-Earth orbit satellite constellations, a market currently dominated by SpaceX’s Starlink, with hundreds of defense contractors showing interest despite an unclear overall project timeline.

The Golden Dome initiative envisions space-based interceptors to shoot down ballistic missiles, a politically sensitive and technically complex project. Apex indicated its spacecraft could participate in such programs, though details remain unclear. Rising U.S., Russian, and Chinese competition in space drives Pentagon demand, with China investing heavily in satellite swarms for military operations. Rapid satellite production has become critical in this emerging space security race, marking a shift from traditional, slow, and costly satellite manufacturing.