Castelion is elevating a $350M Collection B to scale hypersonic missile enterprise

Hypersonic weapons startup Castelion is elevating a $350 million Collection B led by Lightspeed Enterprise Companions and Altimeter Capital, based on sources and paperwork considered by TechCrunch.

The spherical, which values the corporate within the billions, is anticipated to shut in a matter of weeks. A time period sheet has been signed. The brand new spherical comes on the heels of $100 million in Collection A funding that closed in January. That spherical was composed of about $70 million in fairness and $30 million of debt. Lightspeed additionally led that spherical. 

Castelion declined to remark.

It’s notoriously troublesome for non-traditional gamers to interrupt into the sizable authorities protection market, however Castelion has made notable strides because it emerged from stealth in late 2023. The corporate, which was based by former SpaceX executives, desires to rework the manufacturing of hypersonic missile methods, a important nationwide safety expertise.

Regardless of the U.S. Division of Protection’s large price range, army leaders are sounding the alarm on China’s means to quickly develop and subject hypersonics. These weapons journey above Mach 5 — and China’s capabilities are beginning to outpace the USA.

Castelion is proposing an answer. The enterprise takes an analogous method to SpaceX: construct shortly, check continuously, and vertically combine to drive down prices. It has already gained grants and awards from a set of DoD places of work, together with the Air Power Analysis Laboratory and the Naval Air System Command. The corporate examined its hypersonic car for the primary time within the Mojave Desert in March because it seems to be to show to the federal government that it may well subject low-cost hypersonic missiles at scale. 

Castelion appeared within the U.S. Military’s fiscal yr 2026 price range request revealed in June. Within the price range, the army department has requested $25 million below an initiative referred to as Challenge HX3 to assist the event and testing of an “inexpensive, mass-produced hypersonic weapon” referred to as Blackbeard Floor Launch (GL). Because the doc explains, Blackbeard GL may have round 80% of the aptitude of a long-range hypersonic weapon variant at the moment being developed by aerospace primes. However by the contract, the Military is saying it’s keen to commerce slightly little bit of velocity and vary for a lower-cost product. 

The forthcoming contract, which is actually a carried out deal as soon as President Trump indicators the price range into regulation, has two phases: the primary will see Castelion ship a “prototype proof-of-concept” that it’ll show in early 2026. If that’s profitable, the second part will embrace the supply of 10 prototype missiles in 2027 for extra testing utilizing a typical launcher platform referred to as Excessive Mobility Artillery Rocket System. Blackbeard can also be being designed to be appropriate with a brand new launcher system that can have autonomous capabilities. 

All of Castelion’s earlier wins with the DoD are a pittance in comparison with the chances afforded by the profitable hypersonic-weapons market. If the Military subject testing goes properly, Castelion may ink a bigger contract and start delivering Blackbeard missiles in early 2028. 

Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman could need to watch their backs.