EnduroSat, a leading provider of satellite constellations-as-a-service, today announced a €43 million investment led by Founders Fund.
Technology developed by the company: The 200-500kg software-defined satellites will feature advanced avionics and a fully modular design, making them ideally suited for operators seeking the rapid deployment of hyperspectral imaging, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), broadband, navigation, and other demanding payloads. This latest investment will also help EnduroSat further scale at its existing European and U.S. locations.
The new Gen3 satellite class is based on a decade of in-orbit experience and customer feedback. And the modular and high-performance avionics, offering up to 3.5 kW of peak power and 2 Gbps data rate, make the satellites highly configurable for a variety of advanced applications. The new design philosophy behind Gen3 is especially well-suited for constellations and responsive space applications, since it is designed from the ground up for fast turnaround and mass production.
The cableless satellite bus design (developed in-house) can be assembled and functionally tested in a few hours, orders of magnitude faster than typical satellite builds today. The new Gen3 ESPA-class satellites will complement EnduroSat’s flight-proven line of CubeSat platforms and components.
By covering the full mission cycle, EnduroSat’s constellation-as-a-service model enables operators to focus on their core, value-generating business, eliminating complexity and risk while streamlining costs and timelines for every mission phase, from constellation design to payload integration, launch, and operations.
By the end of the year, EnduroSat aims to produce up to 60 satellites per month at the new facility. The company is also continuing to scale its U.S. operations, building a dedicated U.S.-based cleanroom and supporting customers from the commercial and defense industries worldwide.
How the funding will be used: The funding, which included participation from CEECAT Capital, Morphosis Capital, and other returning investors, will be used to scale production of EnduroSat’s new Gen3 ESPA-class satellites.
The latest funding will also support the buildout of a new 17,500 m2 facility in Sofia, which will be one of the largest space R&D centers in Europe. And this facility will include satellite avionics labs, two assembly lines, significantly expanded clean rooms, and a suite of space qualification equipment, including an anechoic chamber.
KEY QUOTES:
“As the number of satellites in space demanded by a broader set of players grows exponentially, our industry needs to re-think how these satellites are built. Raycho and his team at EnduroSat have taken the massive leap to go from utilizing traditional aerospace supply chains, to consumer electronics and automotive supply chains to build their products. This makes EnduroSat’s cost efficiency and performance above all in the market, and they have a proven flight heritage, with 3,000+ modules in orbit today. Their Gen3 satellites get them into a size class that will allow for almost any space opportunity to be relevant for them.”
Delian Asparouhov, Partner at Founders Fund and Co-Founder and President of Varda Space Industries
“Our mission is to make space universally accessible, because this fundamentally improves life on earth. We’re taking the complexity out of space missions by building and operating the space infrastructure our customers need, so they can focus on the next wave of innovation in space applications. I’m excited to work alongside and learn from the team at Founders Fund, which brings decades of expertise in scaling companies and redefining industries. By increasing our production and introducing our new generation of satellites, we’ll unlock access to satellite constellations for even more customers—with reliability and price transparency.”
Raycho Raychev, Founder and CEO of EnduroSat
