Ensuring a Key Path to Airbus Ventures' Commitment to Planetary Sustainability
Airbus Ventures congratulates LeoLabs, Inc. the industry's preeminent supplier of commercial radar tracking services for objects in low Earth orbit (LEO) on its latest, strategic addition to the company's expanding global constellation of LEO sensors. News of the Azores Space Radar, slated to begin operations in the first half of 2022, comes on the heels of the company's $65M Series B financing round. With support from Insight Partners, Velvet Sea Ventures, Airbus Ventures, WERU Investment, Space Capital, and Horizons Ventures, LeoLabs has raised over $100M in total capital to date.
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LeoLabs' space radar in Costa Rica, first unveiled in July 2020 (Source: LeoLabs).
"This new funding is the fuel for launching LeoLab's next growth phase, which begins with deepening our European operations," noted Daniel Ceperley, LeoLabs CEO and co-Founder. "With our earliest investors by our side, we are ramping up our worldwide radar infrastructure, rapidly expanding existing capabilities for tracking orbital debris in commercial LEO. We look forward to engaging more with ESA, the EU SST and member state initiatives, among a cohort of influential partners across the continent's defense and commercial sectors."
Over 27,000 pieces of orbital debris are tracked by the Department of Defense's Space Surveillance Network (SSN), according to NASA. However, as commercial activity in LEO accelerates, assets in LEO are expected to multiply 25x in the next five years. As a result, market-driven space infrastructure is needed to address a maturing, critical demand for data mapping. Because of its strategic Atlantic location, the Azores Space Radar will increase the frequency and depth of LeoLabs' visibility of orbital debris.
"Under Dan's outstanding leadership, LeoLabs has become a vital force in space situational awareness, demonstrating proven tools and technologies for not only ensuring satellite constellation success, but tracking objects in a way that can sustain safe and reliable means of developing low Earth orbit even in the face of burgeoning commercial and government deployments," highlighted Lewis Pinault, Airbus Ventures Partner. "The Airbus Ventures team is excited to see the company's data-rich services advance new platforms to ensure the optimal health for our home planet."
Learn more about Airbus Ventures' partnership with LeoLabs, initiated by the fund's first investment in 2018.
About LeoLabs
Founded in 2016 as a venture-funded spinout of Silicon Valley research pioneer, SRI International, LeoLabs provides access to critical mapping and space situational awareness (SSA) data for low Earth orbit. LeoLabs' services include collision prevention, risk assessment, launch and early orbit support, constellation monitoring, and commercial SSA. LeoLabs today serves space agencies, commercial satellite operators, defense, and scientific/academic organizations that are driving generational change in LEO. LeoLabs' core technology includes a patent-pending global phased-array radar network which tracks debris and satellites in LEO. Observations generated from this network are the foundation of the LeoLabs mapping and SSA software platform, providing timely analytics and accurate orbital and situational data. To learn more, visit: http://leolabs.space.
About Airbus Ventures
Headquartered in Silicon Valley, with offices in Toulouse and Tokyo, Airbus Ventures is a fast-moving, early-stage venture capital company that independently funds and supports startups impacting the aerospace industry. Airbus Ventures has helped aspiring innovators reach new dimensions of achievement since 2015. To learn more, visit: https://airbusventures.vc.
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Contacts:
For Media
Orli Robin
Communications Consultant
orli@airbusventures.vc
For Investment
Lewis Pinault
Airbus Ventures Partner
lewis@airbusventures.vc
