2024 Startup Space Competition to Feature In-Space Services, Software, and Antenna Tech

The annual Startup Space Entrepreneur Pitch Contest is the SATELLITE show’s “rock star” event – with standing room-only crowds gathering around a stage of powerful investors and the most promising startups in the space industry. Since its debut in 2016, Startup Space has served as a cataclysmic platform for participating companies like LeoLabs, Orbit Fab, Astroscale, and more than 100 early-stage companies.

This year’s competition features a unique blend of entrepreneurs that were already well-known in the industry, competing alongside ambitious unknowns and disruptors for a grand prize that includes private pitch meetings with top space investors such as Stellar Ventures, Seraphim Capital, Toyota Ventures, MaC Venture Capital, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Starbridge, Promus, OpAmp, DCVC, E2MC, and AIN Ventures, as well as consulting and marketing services, coverage in Via Satellite magazine, and an automatic invitation to participate at the World Satellite Business Week 2024 Startup Competition hosted by Euroconsult in Paris. In-space services make up a majority of the technologies on display at Startup Space 2024, with new satellite constellations, software, antennas, navigation services, and propulsion systems also on the menu. Here is at the lineup of this year’s competitors:

UNIO Enterprise, represented by CEO Katrin Bacic

Based in Germany, UNIO is building a satellite constellation aimed at providing connectivity to mobility markets, particularly the connected vehicle. Founded in Munich in 2022, UNIO is supported by a consortium of big satellite companies that have invested in its success, including Isar Aerospace, Reflex Aerospace, Mynaric, and SES. The company is working to launch a first demo mission into space in 2025 and to start offering its first commercial services in 2027.

UNIO will be represented in the competition by CEO Katrin Bacic, the former managing director and chief strategy officer (CSO) of Wayra Germany, where she led all of the company’s startup programs. Bacic also has telco industry experience, having worked for Telefónica’s business development and innovation divisions for more than 13 years.

PlaneWave Inc., represented by CEO Keyvan Bahadori

During the past two years, we’ve witnessed a wave of new startups launched by former SpaceX employees. Add California’s PlaneWave Inc. to the list. Founded by former SpaceX engineers who worked on some of the company’s earliest antenna designs, PlaneWave is designing and manufacturing new RF front-end and antenna subsystems for satellite communications, IoT, and GNSS terminals for both existing and emerging satellite services. The company’s antenna designs support aviation, space, agriculture, survey and military applications. PlaneWave’s space products also serve launch vehicles and are being used by the founders’ former employers at SpaceX.

PlaneWave also offers consultation services to space startups for design and analysis of their communication and navigation systems, including architect design, system simulation, hardware selection, electromagnetic simulation, vehicle integration support and license approval process support.

At Startup Space, PlaneWave will be pitched by CEO Keyvan Bahadori, who was an RF engineer at SpaceX from 2012 to 2018, including lead antenna engineer from 2016 to 2018 – the era that included the emergence of the Starlink constellation.

Arkisys, represented by CEO and Co-Founder David Barnhart

Arkisys is building durable, re-usable, and fully robotic infrastructure and facilities/platforms in space to support emerging commercial space business activities, which are often referred to around here as the “Future Space Economy.” The space robotics startup will be represented by arguably one of the most well-known names in space robotics, CEO David Barnhart, the former DARPA senior space project manager who pioneered commercial spacecraft servicing technologies during his tenure.

Barnhart’s new space platform, “The Port,” is described as a “lighthouse on orbit and a beacon to enable existing and new customers and markets in Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.” The Arkisys Port supports scaleable rapid prototyping, new payload and technology testing, assembly and integration of new free-flying space platforms, and destinations for orbital transfer vehicles and on-orbit assembly and manufacturing. Arkisys’ mission is to unlock undiscovered markets in space.

Aldoria, represented by Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Mylène Bosio

French startup Aldoria, formerly known as “Share My Space,” collects, processes, and leverages space situational awareness (SSA) data to protect critical assets and human activities from space hazards. Using an optical sensor network designed in house, Aldoria created an orbital information system that actively monitors space debris and potential collision risks, and helps operators and space agencies proactively avoid threats and adjust orbital paths.

Operating in a very high-demand market that consistently attracts investors, Aldoria hopes to be the fourth SSA data company to win Startup Space in the competition’s eight-year history. Aldoria’s network is currently composed of six optical telescopes that track orbital objects. The company plans to double the size of its network to 12 telescopes by the end of next year.

Aldoria’s vice president of sales and marketing Mylène Bosio, will pitch for the company at SATELLITE 2024. With more than 15 years of expertise in the space industry, she has held diverse roles across the space value chain, ranging from telecoms satellite operators to satellite manufacturers, leading strategy, project management and research and development efforts.

SPAICE, represented by Co-Founder & CEO Matteo Cuccorese

SPAICE’s unique approach to autonomous in-orbit satellite servicing revolves around utilizing off-the-shelf, generative AI frameworks – the type of AI that most people engage with today. The company claims to have built the largest dataset of space assets using these existing AI frameworks and also to have trained deep learning algorithms that could greatly enhance the perception, control, and robotic processes required for in-orbit servicing. SPAICE’s resulting AI-based software solution is delivered to satellites via a robotic kit, equipping spacecraft with autonomous navigation capabilities.

If successful, SPAICE believes its software could cut down in-orbit satellite servicing costs by a factor of ten, by utilizing less fuel, and making satellite planning and routing more efficient.

SPAICE co-founder and CEO Matteo Cuccorese will pitch his company on the Startup Space stage at SATELLITE. He holds a master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning from the Imperial College in London. He interned at Thales Alenia Space and participated in Telespazio’s #T-TeC contest, earning support for his new startup from the established satellite operator.

In Orbit Aerospace, represented by CEO and Co-Founder Ryan Elliott

In Orbit Aerospace calls itself “3PL in space” – referring to leading transportation fleet and warehouse management company 3PL. In Orbit Aerospace was founded to make large-scale manufacturing and research in space more accessible, providing on-orbit hosting and cargo storage with re-entry capability back to Earth. Their target market includes in-space manufacturers, biotech and pharmaceutical companies, and researchers who don’t want to deal with the costs, wait times, and regulations associated with the International Space Station. The company also includes re-entry services to bring assets to and from orbit.

In Orbit has raised capital from Techstars and the 1517 Fund, and participated in accelerator programs including the AWS Space Accelerator. The company is planning for its first scheduled mission in 2025, when it will fly its first re-entry vehicle with a customer payload on board. In Orbit’s co-founder and CEO Ryan Elliott will pitch for the company. Elliott’s engineering background includes work at Raytheon, ThinKom, and SAIC.

Pale Blue, represented by Head of Business Development Naoki Funahashi

Japanese propulsion specialist company Pale Blue is Startup Space’s first-ever returning competitor. The SATELLITE show’s recently expanded conference partnership with Euroconsult’s World Satellite Business Week included an agreement to host the winner of each event as competitors in next year’s competitions. Pale Blue was the grand prize winner of World Satellite Business Week’s 2023 pitch contest and also competed at SATELLITE 2023.

Founded by a group of propulsion researchers from the University of Tokyo, Pale Blue wants to move the space industry away from a fuel-propulsion mindset, offering a safer and more efficient water propellant system. Powered by the company’s patented miniaturized ECR technology, Pale Blue’s water-based propulsion system has achieved unexpected levels of performance in early testing, and in a demonstration on a Sony Corp. Star Sphere satellite that SpaceX launched last year on the Transporter 6 rideshare mission. Pale Blue’s business development lead Naoki Funahashi will take to the stage at Startup Space in 2024.

Little Place Labs, represented by CEO Bosco Lai

Earth observation companies provide insights into what’s happening on the ground. Space situational awareness data companies provide insights into what’s happening in space. Little Place Labs offers data analytics for both, through an exceptional machine-learning software algorithm deployed directly on satellites and other space infrastructure. The company claims that its uniquely structured offering is all about data speed and breaking the bottleneck commonly seen when downlinking raw data from space.

Little Place Lab’s software is called Orbitfy Suite, comprised of 3 products called Prep, Edge, and View. Prep offers on-board conversion of raw data to analysis ready Earth imagery acquired from various MSI and SAR sensors. Edge offers on-board processing of data on a satellite to provide actionable alerts in less than seven minutes. View is a data visualization dashboard that allows users to task satellites on request. The company is currently self-funded, but is generating revenue from grants and a U.S. Air Force STTR.

Co-founder and CEO Bosco Lai will pitch Little Place Labs at this year’s Startup Space competition. Not that long ago, Lai could have been a Startup Space judge. He previously served as an investment banker for Macquarie, where he established a $1 billion energy portfolio and became venture partner in a climate-tech fund.

TrustPoint, represented by CEO & Co-Founder Patrick Shannon

GPS is a satellite technology that is often taken for granted as we use it in our everyday lives. GPS also creates vulnerabilities, that if exploited, could cost lives. TrustPoint is developing a secure, yet commercial global navigation satellite system (GNSS) service for self-driving cars, drone delivery, urban air mobility, and immersive augmented reality. The company combines its own patented signal processing technology with existing commercial satellite technologies and cutting-edge signal security techniques to provide its global positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) service.

TrustPoint, which describes the GNSS market as “ripe for disruption,” launched its first satellite in April 2023 and is currently raising its next round of funding. The company hopes that the improvements it brings to market will lead to better accuracy, quicker responses, and anti-spoof and anti-jam capabilities for U.S. government and commercial customers.

The company will be represented at Startup Space by co-founder and CEO Patrick Shannon. After starting his career as a satellite systems engineer at Orbital Sciences, Shannon also served as vice president of business development and operations at Astro Digital, and vice president of business development at SpaceQuest.

Obruta Space Solutions, represented by Co-Founder and CEO Kevin Stadnyk

Canadian startup Obruta explains its autonomous rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking (RPOD) system as similar to systems that Waymo and Cruise are building to enable self-driving cars. The company’s turnkey RPOD kit hardware and software products enable satellite buses to perform automated services ranging from life-extension, re-fueling, inspection, space debris removal, component repair, and platform upgrades to reusable logistics, transportation, and in-space assembly.

Several in-space services companies that work in these applications develop their own RPOD systems strictly for internal use. Obruta, on the other hand, wants to release its RPOD solution as a full commercial service, with the shared goal of enabling the in-space economy and maintaining a safe and sustainable space environment.

Obruta will be represented at Startup Space by co-founder and CEO Kevin Stadnyk, who holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Carleton University. Hailing from Ottawa, Stadnyk has published three peer-reviewed papers on the deployment and capture of debris objects using tethered nets, and has worked with several civil space agencies and commercial satellite companies. VS