iRocket

Innovative Rocket Technologies Inc. (iRocket) was founded in 2018 in New Hyde Park, New York, by CEO Asad Malik with the goal of building the first fully autonomous, fully reusable small-to-medium launch vehicle. The company's approach centers on 'Recondition, Reload, and Relaunch' — treating orbital rockets more like reusable aircraft than expendable hardware, targeting 24-hour turnaround between flights.

iRocket's primary product is Shockwave, a two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle roughly 125 feet tall with a 9-foot diameter, designed to deliver 300-1,500 kg payloads to LEO, GEO and beyond using a vertical takeoff, vertical landing architecture for both stages. Shockwave's proprietary engine burns liquid oxygen and liquid methane, a clean-burning, low-residue propellant combination intended to support rapid reuse similar to a jet engine. iRocket has tested the engine in augmented, unaugmented and landing modes, and holds a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the Air Force Research Laboratory to use AFRL's High Thrust Research Facility at Edwards Air Force Base for propulsion and stage testing.

The company has built a track record of U.S. government contracts, including Phase I/II SBIR awards, an AFWERX Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) contract, and cooperative agreements with the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command and Air Force Research Laboratory, aimed at maturing its reusable engine and responsive-launch capability for national security missions. In 2025, iRocket signed a large multi-year launch agreement with SpaceBelt KSA to support satellite deployment for Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 program, and announced a planned $400 million SPAC merger with Wilbur Ross-backed BPGC Acquisition Corp to list on Nasdaq.

In parallel with the orbital Shockwave program, iRocket has stood up a solid rocket motor (SRM) manufacturing line under the Hydra 70 program, targeting rapid, vertically-integrated production of small SRMs (1-10 inches) for rockets, missiles and interceptor systems, demonstrated with a design-to-launch cycle of roughly 30 days.