Startup Castelion Raises $1 Billion to Build Ultra-Fast Missiles

Castelion, founded in 2022 by former SpaceX executives, raised $1 billion at a $13 billion valuation from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Carlyle, and JP Morgan Chase. The Torrance-based company makes hypersonic weapons — missiles that fly over five times the speed of sound — and has secured more than $500 million in U.S. military contracts. The funding will expand production of its Blackbeard missile in New Mexico.