Radian Aerospace, the developer of what it calls the world’s first fully reusable horizontal takeoff and landing, single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane, recently emerged from stealth and announced it has closed $27.5 million in seed funding. Radian has been focusing on the design and development of what it says is a revolutionary aerospace vehicle that will fill the efficiency and capability gaps that exist with traditional vertical rockets.

The funding round was led by Fine Structure Ventures, a venture capital fund affiliated with FMR LLC, the parent company of Fidelity Investments, with additional investment from EXOR, The Venture Collective, Helios Capital, SpaceFund, Gaingels, The Private Shares Fund, Explorer 1 Fund, Type One Ventures, and others.

With the new investment, the company says it is on track to advance the development of Radian One, its horizontal takeoff and landing, single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane. Radian’s system will be capable of a range of space operations including the delivery of people and light cargo to low earth orbit with aircraft-like operations.

“To date, a low-cost space transport solution has been lacking that can get humans and cargo to and from space at a highly responsive rate,” said Brett Rome, Venture Partner at Fine Structure Ventures. “Radian is well-positioned to fill that gap with disruptive technology that helps enable the emerging space economy. “

Radian is building the first of a new generation of launch vehicles with the ability to fly to space, perform a mission, return, refuel, and fly again almost immediately. This enables in-space and terrestrial missions that are simply not possible with traditional vehicles. The company is leveraging existing enabling technologies with high technology readiness levels and integrating them in ways never done before.

The company is led by co-founders Richard Humphrey, Chief Executive Officer; Livingston Holder, Chief Technology Officer; Jeff Feige, Chief Revenue Officer; and Curtis Gifford, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

“Wings offer capabilities and mission types that are simply not possible with traditional vertical takeoff right circular cylinder rockets,” said Holder, former head of the Future Space Transportation and X-33 program at Boeing. “What we are doing is hard, but it’s no longer impossible thanks to significant advancements in materials science, miniaturization, and manufacturing technologies.”

Radian’s new approach is expected to boost existing aerospace markets and create entirely new ones.

“We believe that widespread access to space means limitless opportunities for humankind,” said Humphrey. “Over time, we intend to make space travel nearly as simple and convenient as airliner travel. We are not focused on tourism; we are dedicated to missions that make life better on our own planet, like research, in-space manufacturing, and terrestrial observation, as well as critical new missions like rapid global delivery right here on Earth.”

Radian will focus on mission types that align with its unique capabilities, many of which can only be done because of its winged configuration. The company already has launch-service agreements with commercial space stations, in-space manufacturers, satellite, and cargo companies, as well as the U.S. and foreign governments.

“Radian is leveraging a unique combination of technologies with an optimized business model to unlock what I like to call ‘the potential of space,’ serving existing aerospace markets and catalytically enabling new ones,” said Doug Greenlaw, VP of Strategic Growth, Research Innovations Inc., former Chief Executive of Lockheed Martin, and one of Radian’s investors and strategic advisors. “We’re talking about materially enabling an industry that’s expected to grow to $1.4 trillion in less than a decade, and Radian is doing what’s known as the ‘Holy Grail’ of accessing space with full reusability and responsiveness to provide customers unmatched cost-effectiveness and flexibility.”

The addressable commercial market opportunity for Radian’s disruptive launch vehicle is estimated to be $200 billion. Radian’s goal is to steadily mature its core technologies; eventually permitting aircraft-like flight cadence at lower per-mission cost.

“On-demand space operations is a growing economy, and I believe Radian’s technology can deliver on the right-sized, high-cadence operations that the market opportunity is showing,” said Dylan Taylor, Chairman and CEO of Voyager Space and an early personal investor in Radian.

While technical details are limited, Radian’s reusable, aircraft-like configuration is said to require far less infrastructure than vertical launch systems. Its flight profile begins with a sled-assist takeoff, the Radian One taking off subsonically with full propellant tanks. A comfortable, low-g ascent ensures a safe crew flight to low-earth orbit. The intent is for flexible orbital operations, with missions ranging from once around to 5 days on orbit. The vehicle’s wings allow for a smooth re-entry and landing on any 10,000-ft (3050-m) runway. Rapid reflight is possible, with landing to launch times in as fast as 48 h.