Esper Satellites Raises $3.1M Seed Round
The funds will help Esper meet the upcoming launch date of its flagship four-sat constellation, dubbed “Four Leaf Clover,” which could see its first two sats launch in February 2026.
Startups
Stories about the new players changing the space game.
Blue Ghost Notches First Successful Lunar Landing
The lander is now working on a series of tasks that will last a lunar day—about 14 Earth days—and a few hours into the lunar night.
CTO Unveils First Regenerative 5G mmWave Telecom Payload
Constellation Technologies and Operations (CTO), a Paris-based startup attempting to build a constellation of VLEO telecom satellites, announced its first tech demo flight aboard a D-Orbit ION sat launching in June.
Magdrive Propels US Expansion With $10.5M Seed Round
Magdrive’s thruster uses electricity gathered from solar panels to turn its solid metal propellant into hot plasma, which is then ejected from the thruster to provide movement in microgravity.
Karman+ Raises $20M For Asteroid Mining Demo
Multiple civil space agencies have made recent trips to asteroids. Karman+ is betting it can achieve similar results with drastically less capital.
India Launches $58M Space Fund
The Technology Adoption Fund is focused on providing Indian space startups with the capital to move from early-stage technologies to commercially viable products.
True Anomaly Expands to Long Beach
The facility—a new product development center—will work on payload development and new spacecraft designs, streamlining hardware and software development and production as the firm looks to expand its classified operations.
K2 Space Raises $110M Series B
The company will hire more engineers to continue its “ruthless approach to driving down costs,” according to head of strategy John Plumb.
Observable Space Forms From Telescope Hardware, Software Merger
Observable Space wants to become the Tesla of telescopes.
Urban Sky Nabs $30M for Stratospheric Balloons
Urban Sky raised a $30M Series B led by Altos Ventures to advance its balloon technology, the company announced this morning.
ATMOS Space Cargo is Go for Reentry
The Phoenix reentry vehicle will complete two Earth orbits before blasting through the atmosphere and landing in the Indian ocean—without any parachute.
DoD’s Former Top Space Buyer Joins True Anomaly Board
“I really like the speed the company is going at,” he told Payload. “And I really like their approach.”