Agile Space Industries Selected for SpaceWERX STRATFI and Doubles Its Durango Manufacturing Footprint

Agile Space Industries, a Veteran Ventures Capital Fund II portfolio company and in-space chemical propulsion innovator, was named in August as one of 11 companies selected for SpaceWERX's 2026 Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) program. The program pairs Space Force and program-office funding with private capital to carry technologies from prototype to production; this cycle's awards total $562.5 million across the 11 companies, with $245 million of that matched by private investors. SpaceWERX describes STRATFI as a tool to signal demand to industry and private capital, de-risk innovative technologies, and help non-traditional and small businesses scale at the pace space superiority requires. Agile's selection covers in-space propulsion, including engine design, testing and manufacturing.

On August 26, Agile opened the expansion of its Durango, Colorado headquarters with U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper, U.S. Representative Jeff Hurd, Durango Mayor Dave Woodruff and roughly 100 Agile employees in attendance. The 20,500-square-foot addition, built between January and July, brings the facility to approximately 40,000 square feet and adds about 8,000 square feet of manufacturing space, a new cleanroom, an expanded machine shop, a climate-controlled inspection room, and in-house vibration testing that was previously outsourced.

"The opening of the expanded Durango facility is crucial to support our continued growth," said Chris Pearson, Agile's CEO. "By year-end, the business will have grown more than four-fold since 2022." Agile now employs 167 people, 124 of them in Durango, and has hired 77 in the past twelve months.

The STRATFI selection and the expansion follow Agile's $17 million Series A, which closed in February with Veteran Ventures Capital as the second-largest investor, and a second reorder from a major U.S. commercial launch provider announced earlier this year.

Sources: Payload; SpaceNews; Agile Space Industries.

Image: Agile Space Industries