/Tech19h ago

Tom Mueller Tours Impulse Space Factory and Deneb Engine

76922144758659.1K

#354

Original post

Molly O’Shea#354

sourcery@sourceryy

Tom Mueller (@lrocket) says his "proudest development" as the 1st Employee at SpaceX was creating the Merlin engine:

"Currently flying on Falcon 9, it is the most reliable rocket engine ever developed, and also the highest thrust to weight of any rocket engine ever developed."

"I worked on Starship for the last six years at SpaceX."

" When I left, I had the plan of launch mostly being solved or is being solved."

Molly O’Shea@MollySOShea

BREAKING: Inside Impulse Space with Tom Mueller (@lrocket) (SpaceX's 1st Employee)

FULL TOUR

The famous engineer behind the Merlin engine, now Founder, CEO & CTO of Impulse Space (@GoToImpulse)

ICYMI: Merlin still powers Falcon 9 today, the most reliable rocket engine ever flown & the highest thrust-to-weight ever developed. It's the workhorse behind nearly every SpaceX mission: Starlink launches, Dragon crew & cargo flights to the ISS, & booster landings

Tom walks us through the factory floor, from the avionics clean room to a live rocket engine firing in the vacuum chamber

Impulse is building the in-space mobility layer: the vehicles & engines that move spacecraft after launch, from LEO to GEO, the Moon, infinity & beyond

We cover: → Mira: precision maneuvering spacecraft & its saiph thrusters (8 thrusters, ~50 lbs thrust, 5-yr orbit life) → Helios: long haul same-day delivery vehicle (12 tons of LOX/methane, LEO to GEO) → Deneb Engine: 15,000 lbs thrust engine that powers Helios, ox-rich staged combustion, carbon skirt running over 3,000°F → Why 3D printing is "almost a cheat code" for rocket engines → In-house composite tanks, Novaloy, & copper liners machined from 700 lbs down to 25 → 3 spacecraft in orbit + a 1,200-meter rendezvous → Starlink, iterating Merlin & Raptor, & working with @elonmusk → Nuclear propulsion, the Moon, & why compute needs to move to space

𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Tom Mueller, Founder, CEO & CTO of Impulse Space (00:49) Inside Impulse Space (02:32) Avionics Bay floor (02:59) Building rockets at home (03:50) Mira and Helios (08:00) Why Tom left SpaceX (09:33) The Deneb Engine walkthrough (11:42) Testing in Mojave (12:23) Favorite part of the Engine (13:30) How it's 3D Printed (14:21) Why 3D Printing changes everything (16:54) Finding Talent for COPVs (17:28) No Modern hardware without software (19:52) The Mill Turn explained (22:42) Payload Deck Design (25:28) Entering the Secret Area (30:48) Thrust, Flow Rate, & 100 Sensors (32:13) Collision avoidance in Orbit (32:57) The Electric Propulsion Chamber (34:28) Nuclear Electric is the future (38:49) Data Centers in Space (40:28) SpaceX & Starlink's Growth (41:10) Working with Elon (42:07) If not CEO, then what? (42:32) Moon matters more than Mars

7:53 AM · Jun 6, 2026 · 8.9K Views

/Tech19h ago

Tom Mueller Tours Impulse Space Factory and Deneb Engine

76922144758659.1K

#354

Original post

Molly O’Shea#354

sourcery@sourceryy

Tom Mueller (@lrocket) says his "proudest development" as the 1st Employee at SpaceX was creating the Merlin engine:

"Currently flying on Falcon 9, it is the most reliable rocket engine ever developed, and also the highest thrust to weight of any rocket engine ever developed."

"I worked on Starship for the last six years at SpaceX."

" When I left, I had the plan of launch mostly being solved or is being solved."

Molly O’Shea@MollySOShea

BREAKING: Inside Impulse Space with Tom Mueller (@lrocket) (SpaceX's 1st Employee)

FULL TOUR

The famous engineer behind the Merlin engine, now Founder, CEO & CTO of Impulse Space (@GoToImpulse)

Tom walks us through the factory floor, from the avionics clean room to a live rocket engine firing in the vacuum chamber

Impulse is building the in-space mobility layer: the vehicles & engines that move spacecraft after launch, from LEO to GEO, the Moon, infinity & beyond

7:53 AM · Jun 6, 2026 · 8.9K Views

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Many users praised the Tom Mueller interview and Impulse Space factory tour for offering insightful and impressive perspectives on the Mira Helios and Deneb engines.

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Molly O’Shea@MollySOShea

@lrocket @GoToImpulse

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Molly O’Shea@MollySOShea

@lrocket @GoToImpulse Read on Sourcery (+photos): https://www.sourcery.vc/p/breaking-inside-impulse-space-w-tom

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2VpDv9C136A5ETWulolAxA?si=i_758fGHQsiMx_iVAyZ1zg

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/inside-impulse-spaces-factory-with-founder-tom-mueller/id1738124704?i=1000771141258

YT: https://youtu.be/WIORHdlPWAI

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Molly O’Shea@MollySOShea

@lrocket @GoToImpulse

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Molly O’Shea@MollySOShea

BREAKING: Inside Impulse Space with Tom Mueller (@lrocket) (SpaceX's 1st Employee)

FULL TOUR

The famous engineer behind the Merlin engine, now Founder, CEO & CTO of Impulse Space (@GoToImpulse)

Tom walks us through the factory floor, from the avionics clean room to a live rocket engine firing in the vacuum chamber

Impulse is building the in-space mobility layer: the vehicles & engines that move spacecraft after launch, from LEO to GEO, the Moon, infinity & beyond

2d650.2K856751

REPLIES2

Andrew McCalip@andrewmccalip

@MollySOShea @lrocket @GoToImpulse Very impressive shop and operation

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Molly O’Shea@MollySOShea

@lrocket @GoToImpulse

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Anonymous@Anonymous766037

@MollySOShea @lrocket @GoToImpulse Another epic episode!

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Molly O’Shea@MollySOShea

@Infopulsed @lrocket @GoToImpulse 🚀🚀🚀🚀

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Molly O’Shea@MollySOShea

@andrewmccalip @lrocket @GoToImpulse

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Molly O’Shea@MollySOShea

@Anonymous766037 @lrocket @GoToImpulse 😂😂😂

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Molly O’Shea@MollySOShea

@TobyDDRice @lrocket @GoToImpulse 🔥🔥🔥

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Molly O’Shea@MollySOShea

@stargzer42 @lrocket @GoToImpulse 🚀🤝

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Molly O’Shea@MollySOShea

@VickiLynn47 @lrocket @GoToImpulse Data centers in space 🚀

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Molly O’Shea@MollySOShea

@bartmossorg @lrocket @GoToImpulse 🚀🚀🚀

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Molly O’Shea@MollySOShea

@Samuelai_Qauntu @lrocket @GoToImpulse 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀

2d27231

Vicki Lynn 🇺🇸@VickiLynn47

@MollySOShea @lrocket @GoToImpulse Fascinating interview, but...

"Powering compute is crushing us."

Poor earth. 🌎

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kvick@kvickart

@MollySOShea @lrocket @GoToImpulse amazing, only watched the preview clip but will enjoy listening to this in the car, thank you for putting this together!

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Rocket L🅰️b / dutch1664@TobyDDRice

@MollySOShea @lrocket @GoToImpulse Wow, this is an amazing interview! First time seeing a rocket engine fire in the factory! 🚀 🔥 🔥

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Lindsay@stargzer42

@MollySOShea @lrocket @GoToImpulse Great episode! One of the most interesting, high signal interviews I’ve watched in a long time

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EDITH@Infopulsed

@MollySOShea @lrocket @GoToImpulse This one is really epic, cause really he has been my idol since i started following his work on merlin engines, he's literally the kernel part of spaceX...

Like i am looking forward to the impressive work he does at @GoToImpulse

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