EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
Satellite protection startup LeoLabs raises $10M to expand its tracking radars
Satellite protection and mapping startup LeoLabs Inc. today said it has raised $10 million in new funding to expand its network of next-generation radars for tracking small debris and satellites in low Earth orbit.
The Series B round, its latest funding since it raised $4 million in February 2017, was led by WERU Investment and Airbus Ventures with Space Angels and Horizons Ventures also participating.
Founded in 2015, LeoLabs builds and operates radars to track satellites and the debris that threatens them. It noted that about 250,000 dangerous pieces of orbital debris remain untracked in low earth orbit, threatening satellites.
The company protects LEO satellites in two ways — by providing the foundational data for tracking and characterizing objects in LEO, including small debris, and by making this commercial data accessible to the LEO community through their API and platform.
LeoLabs is not alone in tracking space debris. The U.S. Air Force maintains its own sensor grid to alert space companies when a space-borne orbit is on course to collide with their satellites. But according to some, the network is dated. LeoLabs, by comparison, claims to be able to provide a more reliable alternative.
According to NASA, orbital debris consists of derelict spacecraft and upper stages of launch vehicles, carriers for multiple payloads, debris intentionally released during spacecraft separation from its launch vehicle or during mission operations, debris created as a result of spacecraft or upper stage explosions or collisions, solid rocket motor effluents and tiny flecks of paint released by thermal stress or small particle impacts.
The average impact speed of orbital debris with another space object is approximately 6 miles per second, meaning that collisions with even a small piece of debris will involve considerable energy and damage.
That’s where LeoLabs steps in, giving companies forewarning that their LEO satellites may collide with orbital debris. That in turn gives companies the opportunity to move the satellite if they have the ability to do so.
Photo: LeoLabs
Since you’re here …
… We’d like to tell you about our mission and how you can help us fulfill it. SiliconANGLE Media Inc.’s business model is based on the intrinsic value of the content, not advertising. Unlike many online publications, we don’t have a paywall or run banner advertising, because we want to keep our journalism open, without influence or the need to chase traffic.The journalism, reporting and commentary on SiliconANGLE — along with live, unscripted video from our Silicon Valley studio and globe-trotting video teams at theCUBE — take a lot of hard work, time and money. Keeping the quality high requires the support of sponsors who are aligned with our vision of ad-free journalism content.
If you like the reporting, video interviews and other ad-free content here, please take a moment to check out a sample of the video content supported by our sponsors, tweet your support, and keep coming back to SiliconANGLE.
