You may not have known space shuttles were needed, but now you do — and Atomos Space has closed a $16.2 million Series A investment that will allow the company to complete a demonstration mission that will demonstrate its ability to dock and tow. The company is developing a series of Orbital Transfer Vehicles (OTV) that will enable it to maneuver satellites in space. The theory is that by enabling flying objects to move into different orbits, they would be completely devoid of navigational capabilities. Turn around and turn around. The company says its presence will cut launch costs for satellite operators in half.
The company is starting with high-powered electric propulsion systems and is excited to share that it sees those propulsion systems as a stepping stone to nuclear OTV options, which will allow it to travel faster and farther and provide commercial mobility services. The company is positioning itself to use these technologies for asteroid deflection, effectively putting Harry Stamper out of business.
“I worked on launch vehicle design, then spacecraft propulsion system design, as well as some advanced technologies for space propulsion, and I quickly realized that how we do space logistics is very good. The best example we use is with an airplane. Imagine you have a single-use airplane, you You’re just a passenger, and because you can’t shop on the road, you have to carry everything with you. So if you want to drive to your final destination, you have to take the car and get gas,” explains Vanessa Clark, CEO and founder of Atomos Space. “Ultimately, it’s very expensive and limited. We “What we need is a space-centric and conversational logistics model. This will allow us to carry out commercial missions like Earth observation, global communications, broadband Internet, but also allow us to take the next step as a species and do more things in deep space that make economic and scientific sense.” He said.
This is the company’s third round of VC funding and so far it has built and tested the docking and propulsion system on the ground. The next big step is to fly the first vehicle.
“THis is a lot of autonomy. We are working to have a self-driving satellite that can locate, navigate and safely capture a customer. As a launch vehicle, we have the ability to optimize our propulsion system to operate in space, as opposed to having to design it to get there. in Place” Clark highlights the company’s competitive advantage. “This means we can go forward and use less propellant. With this new round of funding, we are completing the construction of our first two vehicles and have a launch site in less than 12 months. It will be an exciting mission to fly two full-size commercial vehicles.”
The first use of the technology is to take satellites to their final destination and to fix the satellites mid-mission. At the end of their service life, vehicles can be sent to a graveyard orbit or to a graveyard orbit to burn up in the atmosphere.
“Our goal as a company is to make any orbit as low Earth orbit (LEO) accessible. On land, if you want to send something overseas, it’s as simple as sending a package to the next city. You just go to the post office. We want this to be possible for space,” explains Clarke. “We want to serve a wide range of mission-capable orbital transit vehicles in Earth orbit for a wide range of customers, including spacecraft operators, space station operators, and companies and agencies that want to explore beyond the atmosphere.”
The company is particularly excited about nuclear propulsion in space, and they’re investing heavily on that front, which he tells us will command a modest improvement in speed and payload capacity.
With the current funding, the company says it will double the size of the team and launch the first two OTVs in early 2024. The investment was led by Cantos Ventures and the Yamauchi No. 10 Family Office (the family that founded Nintendo. ), with participation from Upheaval Investments, Dolby Family Ventures, Arden Road Investments, Elefund and Techstars.
