The startup watch · 12 emerging companies
Starcloud
Data-centre satellites flying NVIDIA H100-class GPUs to run AI training and inference in orbit.
Series A · $170m at a $1.1bn valuation, March 2026
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Backers: Benchmark, EQT Ventures, NFX, Y Combinator
Traction: Starcloud-1 trained a small language model in orbit in December 2025, the first LLM training in space.
Turion Space
Autonomous Droid satellites for space domain awareness, debris tracking and satellite servicing.
Series B · $75m+, April 2026
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Backers: Veteran Ventures, Washington Harbour, Y Combinator
Traction: Selected for a US Space Force small-satellite procurement programme spanning twelve firms, May 2025.
PAVE Space
LYOBA, a heavy kick stage built to move payloads of up to five tonnes between orbits in hours.
Seed · $40m, March 2026
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Backers: Visionaries Club, Creandum
Traction: First demonstration mission planned for late 2026.
NewOrbit
Satellites with in-house propulsion built to hold very low Earth orbit, 200 to 300km, for years at a time.
Series A · $18.5m, June 2026
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Backers: Voyager Ventures, Atlantic VC, Lifeline Ventures
Traction: Validation contract from SPRIND, Germany's federal breakthrough-innovation agency, March 2026.
Reditus Space
Reusable re-entry vehicles that return 40kg manufacturing payloads from orbit by splashdown.
Seed · $7.1m, December 2025
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Backers: Antler, Y Combinator
Traction: ENOS demonstrator booked on a SpaceX rideshare for summer 2026.
Cascade Space
A commercial deep-space ground-station network, built against NASA's oversubscribed Deep Space Network.
Seed · $6m, July 2025
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Backers: Y Combinator and fourteen others
Traction: First station, Earth Station Zero, is targeted to downlink from the Moon in 2026, on the company's own timeline.
Dispatch
Refurbishable re-entry vehicles for returning orbital manufacturing output such as semiconductors.
Y Combinator Spring 2026 · funding undisclosed
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Backers: Y Combinator
Traction: Full-scale heat-shield test behind a rocket engine, simulating re-entry above Mach 20, April 2026.
Wardstone
Kinetic interceptor satellites that deploy kilometre-wide particle clouds against hypersonic missiles.
Seed · $5m, late 2025
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Backers: Y Combinator, Pioneer Fund, Allegis Capital
Traction: A first suborbital interceptor test was planned for April 2026; no public result yet.
Instinct Space
650kg lunar landers designed to fly as standard rideshare payloads rather than dedicated missions.
Seed · amount undisclosed, reports differ
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Backers: Rebel Fund, Y Combinator
Traction: Agreement with Luxembourg's Polimak Space to explore flying a regolith-handling payload, May 2026.
GRU Space
Inflatable lunar habitats and regolith-brick construction, marketed as a future lunar hotel.
Y Combinator Winter 2026 · $100,000 confirmed from Planet Ventures
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Backers: Planet Ventures, Y Combinator
Traction: Opened lunar-hotel reservations at $250,000 to $1m a booking in January 2026; first demonstration targeted for 2029.
Exosat
Communication satellites built free of US export-controlled parts, pitched at regional operators.
Y Combinator Summer 2026 · funding undisclosed
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Backers: Y Combinator
Traction: States over $400m in operator letters of intent and an 11,000-satellite ITU filing; company figures, not independently confirmed.
AxionOrbital
Foundation models converting radar satellite data into optical-style imagery in real time.
Y Combinator Winter 2026 · funding undisclosed
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Backers: Y Combinator
Traction: Published performance figures are the company's own; no independent validation yet.
