Startups
Stories about the new players changing the space game.
Slingshot Doubles Sensing Capabilities
Slingshot Aerospace announced this morning that it will add 80 new sensors by the end of the year, doubling its tracking capabilities and getting closer to its goal of building the most comprehensive space tracking network on the planet. The story so far: CEO Melanie Stricklan founded Slingshot in 2017 to tackle the growing need…
Stoke Space Unveils Fusion Tracking Software
Launch company Stoke Space is getting into the software business. This week, the Washington-based startup, whose primary mission is building fully reusable rockets, debuted Fusion, a software platform to track physical hardware from “lightbulb to liftoff,” according to its website. Stoke Space developed Fusion to fill an internal need after “a history of pain all…
Exclusive: Outpost Wins $1.7M DOD Contract for Ferry Platform
Outpost has won a $1.7M DoD contract to help fund development and testing of its Ferry satellite, which can bring payloads safely back to Earth without burning up in the atmosphere. The Direct to Phase II Orbital Prime SBIR contract from SpaceWERX is the startup’s first contract with the Defense Department, Paul Tomko, the director…
Exclusive: Starfish Nets $3M from the DIU
Starfish Space, the Seattle-based startup building vehicles to support a future on-orbit servicing economy, has snagged a $3M contract from National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC), a technology development arm of the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). The funds will help Starfish push its Nautilus electrostatic adhesive docking and capture mechanism through the next phases of development.…
Starfish Space Raises $14M Series A
Starfish Space, a Seattle-based startup developing satellite servicing spacecraft, has raised a $14M Series A round led by Munich Re Ventures. Toyota Ventures also participated in the round, along with existing investors PSL Ventures, NFX, and MaC VC. Servicing for cheap: Starfish has a grand vision of a future economy in Earth orbit where satellites…
Vast Acquires Launcher to Speed Space Station Development
The race to build commercial space stations is heating up. Yesterday, Vast, a startup that emerged from stealth last September with plans to build stations with artificial gravity, announced that it has acquired space tug company Launcher for an undisclosed amount. TechCrunch first reported the news. Vast’s vision: Jed McCaleb, who made his name and…
Umbra, Maxar Announce SAR-Optical Alliance
Yesterday, Umbra dropped a triple whammy. The Santa Barbara, CA-based startup 1) rebranded, 2) published licensing and pricing details for its SAR imagery, along with sharing some of that imagery for the first time, and 3) announced a key partnership with Maxar. We’ll take this whammy by whammy. #1: The rebrand Umbra’s logo, website, and…
Jiga Raises $4.1M for Manufacturing Procurement Platform
Jiga, a Y Combinator W21 alum operating a manufacturing procurement platform, closed a $4.1M funding round led by Symbol. “The aerospace industry is facing a growing demand for new and innovative products, and it’s crucial that companies have quick access to the right parts and materials to meet this demand,” Jiga CEO Adar Hay told…
Exotrail raises $58M for spacestudio, spacedrop, spaceware, and spacetower
Exotrail has raised $58M, the French space logistics provider announced this week. The startup will tap the funds to fuel: The cap table Bpifrance, a French public investment bank, led the $58M Series B round via its SPI and Innovation Defense Funds. Bpifrance had already backed Exotrail through its F3A and Digital Venture investment vehicles…
Orbital Sidekick Raises $10M, Preps for Launch of Hyperspectral Constellation
This week, Orbital Sidekick announced a $10M raise from a group of strategic and existing investors. Energy Innovation Capital led the round, with energy firms Williams and ONEOK participating. The University of Minnesota’s endowment fund, 11.2 Capital, Syndicate 708, and In-Q-Tel also joined the round. Six-year-old, SF-based Orbital Sidekick is preparing to launch a six-bird…
Europe’s Privately Funded Space Capsule Startup Nabs €40.5M in Funding
The Exploration Company has closed a €40.5M Series A. The round follows a €5.3M seed round, closed in November 2021. The Franco-German startup is developing a reusable space capsule, Nyx, that will fly science missions, resupply space stations, and, with any luck, eventually, take crews to and from orbit. The vehicle is designed to carry…
Floodbase Renames and Closes $12M Series A
Floodbase, a Brooklyn, NY-based startup that operates an intelligence engine to help assess and insure flood risk, announced a major rebrand along with a $12M Series A. Lowercarbon Capital led the funding round, with participation from Collaborative Fund, Floating Point and Vidavo. Who’s Floodbase? The artist formerly known as Cloud to Street is working to…
AstroForge Announces Asteroid Mining Test Missions
Could this be the year of asteroid mining? AstroForge, a YC W22 alum based in Huntington Beach, CA, is trying to make it happen. The company announced that it has booked two missions this year to get its asteroid mining tech to orbit and tested as quickly as possible. Mining asteroids: About a decade ago,…
