Stellar Alpina Raises $4.4M for Rotating Detonation Rocket Engines (RDREs)

Swiss startup Stellar Alpina raises €3.8M ($4.4M) pre-seed round to advance rotating detonation rocket engines (RDREs)

Co-founded by Victor Elliesen, the company is targeting one emerging bottleneck in the space economy: moving assets between orbits, supporting cislunar operations, and enabling future in-space servicing infrastructure.

The round was led by Swiss VC Founderful.

Unlike traditional rocket engines that rely on subsonic combustion, RDREs use supersonic detonation waves to extract more energy from the same propellant. The result could be higher-performance propulsion systems with fewer mechanical parts and lower mass, potentially reshaping how satellites and spacecraft maneuver in space.

The team moved quickly after founding in February 2026, completing its first RDRE hotfire campaign just 82 days after incorporation, including what Stellar Alpina says were Europe’s first commercial RDRE hotfire milestones.

According to Elliesen, Stellar Alpina plans to test as many engines as possible in the next year. The company will target testing a new configuration every two weeks.

Image Credits: Stellar Alpina