Loft Orbital, the San Francisco-based satellite operator, announced on January 14th that it has secured $170 million in Series C funding. This investment round, co-led by Tikehau Capital and Axial Partners, brings the company's total funding to approximately $325 million. The funding will be used to expand manufacturing facilities and integrate more artificial intelligence into its operations.
Loft Orbital’s innovative approach focuses on simplifying access to space by offering a space-as-a-service model. The company sources satellite buses from various vendors and integrates them with customer payloads, eliminating the need for customers to manage their own infrastructure. This contrasts with competitors like Spire Global, which develops its own buses. Alex Greenberg, co-founder and chief operating officer, highlighted that Loft Orbital’s default satellite mass starts around 200 kilograms, with plans to offer larger, more powerful spacecraft exceeding 500kg.
A key element of Loft Orbital's success is its modular payload adapter, which standardizes payload connections to satellite buses from vendors such as Airbus and BlackSky. Greenberg emphasizes the company’s "turnkey" nature: “We actually have satellites on a shelf…and we just configure those satellites to apply a customer payload. We’re not building or designing a satellite uniquely for a customer.”
With five satellites already deployed and around 30 in backlog for launch in 2025-2026 (representing approximately $500 million in contract value), Loft Orbital caters to a diverse clientele, including NASA and Eutelsat. Demand is driven by climate change monitoring, national security needs, and the growing appetite for connectivity and data-driven insights.
The funding will support the expansion of manufacturing and integration facilities, notably a 4,600-square-meter factory in the UAE. Future plans include integrating AI to automate operations and optimize data processing. Their YAM-6 satellite, launched last year, is a prime example of this AI integration, allowing for customizable imaging applications. Greenberg notes that improving software deployment is key to unlocking AI's full potential in space, envisioning a future where customers can easily order and utilize satellite services online.
Bpifrance, Foundation Capital, Temasek, and Uncork Capital also participated in the Series C round.