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Dec 9, 2025
Castelion gets $350M to mass-produce hypersonic missiles
Defence Blog
The company plans to begin multi-service platform integration and high-tempo testing of Blackbeard in 2026.
Castelion, a fast-moving defense technology firm founded by SpaceX alumni, announced it has raised $350 million in Series B funding to accelerate production of its Blackbeard hypersonic weapon and expand U.S. industrial capacity for next-generation munitions.
The company says this funding will support construction of a large-scale manufacturing facility and operational integration with Army and Navy platforms.
"Blackbeard helps close America's hypersonic capability gap against China and Russia," said Castelion CEO and Co-Founder Bryon Hargis. "This funding lets us build fast, test often, and produce at volumes that matter in the real world."
The capital will be used to develop Project Ranger, a 1,000-acre solid rocket motor production site in Sandoval County, New Mexico. Castelion plans to manufacture thousands of Blackbeard missiles annually at this facility, which the company says will support hundreds of high-skilled jobs. Castelion aims to begin multi-service platform testing in 2026.
The round was led by Altimeter Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners, joined by Lavrock Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, First In, Space VC, Cantos, BlueYard, Avenir, Champion Hill, and Interlagos.
In a statement, Altimeter Capital Partner Erik Kriessmann said: "Castelion was founded by a special team of SpaceX alumni who, in just 2.5 years, took a clean-sheet hypersonic from concept to 25+ flight tests and major integration contracts. We're leading this round because of what they've achieved in record time and so they can rapidly scale production of one of the U.S. Department of War's most critical capabilities: affordable, mass-produced hypersonics."
Castelion's Blackbeard system is being positioned as a mass-manufacturable hypersonic weapon that could be deployed in large quantities. The company conducted over 20 development flight tests in 2025, v
