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Astro Mechanica, a developer of turboelectric supersonic jet engines, is raising $250 million in Series B funding, Axios Pro has learned.

Why it matters: The startup plans to supply its engines to energy-starved data centers.

Driving the news: Astro Mechanica is adapting its fuel-flexible airplane engines for on-site power.

It's raising funds to acquire a 100,000-square-foot site in San Francisco to become its manufacturing hub and headquarters.

It plans to begin production next year, ramping to two 10 MW units per week, or 1 GW annually.

Follow the money: Astro Mechanica plans to raise the Series B in tranches, targeting an initial $100 million, two sources tell Axios Pro.

It previously raised $58 million, including a $27.1 million round last year joined by Andreessen Horowitz, Giant Step Capital and Lowercarbon Capital.

Other investors include Alumni Ventures, MaC Venture Capital, Neo, Pax VC, United Airlines Ventures, and Voyager.

Context: Tech firms are paying huge premiums to secure stable energy supplies for their data centers, especially if those power sources can circumvent years-long backlogs for conventional gas turbines. 

Between the lines: It's an opportunity for startups whose main product may still be years away from generating revenue now. 

"Aerospace programs very rarely fail because of technical work, they fail because they run out of money," one of the sources tells Axios Pro. "You need to assure you have revenue."

Case in point: Rival startup Boom Supersonic last December closed $300 million as it began modifying its supersonic jet engines to power data centers, citing an order backlog of $1.25 billion. 

What we're watching: Astro Mechanica, which contends that its closed-cycle engines are more efficient than open-cycle designs, maintains that the data-center work won't hinder its aerospace efforts.

"It's identical" to the company's existing work, the source says. "This is not even a new team inside of the company — it's still the propulsion team."

Scoop: Astro Mechanica raising $250M to power data centers with jet engines

It contends it's a more efficient offering than Boom.

Illustration of jet-plane like paper airplane, a regular paper airplane, and a crumpled dollar bill falling from the sky 

Astro Mechanica, a developer of turboelectric supersonic jet engines, is raising $250 million in Series B funding, Axios Pro has learned.Why it matters: The startup plans to supply its engines to energy-starved data centers.

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Scoop: Astro Mechanica raising $250M to power data centers with jet engines

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