# Starpath

> Starpath is a Hawthorne, California space company building robotic factories that mine water ice from the Moon and refine it into rocket propellant. Founded in 2022 by former SpaceX engineers, the company designs fleets of autonomous mining rovers, on-site refineries, and liquid oxygen (LOX) storage systems to produce fuel where rockets actually need it - off Earth. The bet is simple and audacious: if you can make oxidizer on the Moon, you can make deep space travel affordable and turn humanity into a multi-planet species. Starpath raised a $12M seed round in 2024 co-led by 8VC and Fusion Fund.

- **Founded:** 2022
- **Headquarters:** Hawthorne, California, United States
- **Founders:** Saurav Shroff (Co-Founder & CEO), Mihir Gondhalekar (Co-Founder & CTO), Jason Zang (Co-Founder)
- **Team size:** ~29 employees (10 full-time reported at the 2024 seed round; growing rapidly)
- **Products:** Lunar mining rovers, On-site refinery, Liquid oxygen (LOX) storage, Deployable solar array
- **Notable:** Came out of stealth in September 2023 with a full lunar water-harvesting architecture., Raised a $12M seed round in August 2024 co-led by 8VC and Fusion Fund., Won roughly $800K in NASA grants through the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge.

## Products & services

- **Lunar mining rovers** — A fleet of autonomous rovers that excavate water-rich regolith in the Moon's permanently shadowed south-pole craters.
- **On-site refinery** — Processing plants that purify excavated material into water and electrolyze it into hydrogen and oxygen.
- **Liquid oxygen (LOX) storage** — Cryogenic storage systems - including underground Teflon-lined containers - to hold refined LOX for use as rocket oxidizer.
- **Deployable solar array** — A large deployable power array positioned on south-pole peaks of near-eternal light to power mining and refining operations.

## Achievements

- Came out of stealth in September 2023 with a full lunar water-harvesting architecture.
- Raised a $12M seed round in August 2024 co-led by 8VC and Fusion Fund.
- Won roughly $800K in NASA grants through the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge.
- Set a target of producing ~1,000 tons of liquid oxygen per year, with a first demonstration mission goal near 100 tons/year equivalent.
- Building toward a full-scale system demonstration in a simulated lunar environment.

## Latest updates

- **2024-08** — Closed a $12M seed round co-led by 8VC and Fusion Fund, with Day One Ventures, Balerion Space, and Indicator Ventures participating; reported ~10 full-time employees and plans to demonstrate a full-scale system in a simulated lunar environment.
- **2023-09** — Emerged from stealth with a lunar water-mining architecture and a ~$2.5M pre-seed round led by Hummingbird Ventures and Valhalla Ventures.

## Links

- Website: https://starpath.space
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/starpathspace
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/StarpathSpace
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bMEg6GzVGs

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/starpath
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Last updated: 2026-07-02