Rocket startup Impulse raises $500M, prioritizes hiring over AI

Impulse Space, a rocket engine startup, has secured $500 million in Series D funding. The company plans to use this capital primarily to hire up to 200 new employees, emphasizing human expertise over AI for complex engineering challenges. While AI coding tools are being adopted, the startup's leadership believes deep learning models are not yet ready for critical real-world hardware design and problem-solving. This funding round highlights investor confidence in the space and defense technology sectors.