Loft Orbital has raised $170m in a Series C funding round to expand its satellite operations, focusing on incorporating inter-satellite links and enhancing artificial intelligence capabilities onboard its spacecraft.
The round was co-led by Tikehau Capital and Axial Partners, with participation from Bpifrance, Foundation Capital, Temasek and Uncork Capital. With this latest funding, Loft Orbital has now amassed $300m in total investments, following a $130m Series B round in 2021.
Loft Orbital’s model integrates customer payloads, both physical and virtual, onto its modular YAM (Yet Another Mission) satellites. The company has successfully deployed tens of missions across five satellites using its proprietary payload adapter and mission operations software.
In a blog post announcing the funding round, co-founders Pierre-Damien Vaujour and Alex Greenberg outlined their vision for the company’s next phase. They aim to scale operations from launching a few satellites annually to over 10 per year, establishing Loft Orbital as a leading provider of space infrastructure.
A key focus for the future is equipping satellites with onboard computing and inter-satellite links to enable real-time tactical data access. “Currently, very few satellites are designed to detect and monitor events in real-time. We see enormous untapped potential in leveraging satellites for tactical purposes, which requires them to be smarter and more accessible,” the founders stated.
The company also plans to expand its ecosystem of AI application partners and make deploying AI apps on its infrastructure seamless and eventually self-serve. “This funding will allow us to accelerate our efforts in creating smarter, more adaptive satellites, bringing real-time capabilities closer to reality,” the co-founders added.
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