Loft Orbital is a space infrastructure-as-a-service provider that simplifies access to space for organizations. They build and operate satellites, flying customer payloads and handling missions end-to-end. Loft Orbital's key offerings include standardized satellite platforms, payload integration services, and mission control software, serving customers like NASA, Microsoft, and the US Space Force. Associated keywords include: space infrastructure, hosted payloads, satellite missions, and space-as-a-service.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
Loft Orbital planned to launch its first satellite, Yet Another Mission (YAM) 2, in mid-2020 but now expects that mission to launch in early 2021.
Hydrosat’s first multi-spectral infrared mission will launch on Loft Orbital’s YAM-6 spacecraft aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Loft Orbital is based in San Francisco and was founded in 2017 to offer microsatellite missions as a service by integrating customer payloads with standard satellite buses and mission operations software.
Hydrosat and Loft Orbital reached an agreement on 2020-12-09 to launch Hydrosat’s first satellite mission in early 2022.
Orbital Sidekick is preparing to launch its second hyperspectral sensor in December on a Loft Orbital satellite.
The Electron launch vehicle will loft 30 satellites to a Sun-synchronous orbit at 500 km altitude.
Orbital Sidekick is preparing to launch its second hyperspectral sensor in December on a Loft Orbital satellite scheduled to ride on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare.
Loft Orbital signed a contract on 2020-08-04 to provide the spacecraft platform and arrange a launch for a Canadian quantum communications experiment.
Loft Orbital is a San Francisco-based startup working under a contract from Scientific Systems Company Inc.
Exolaunch is preparing to launch Loft Orbital’s YAM-3 satellite, built by LeoStella, on a Falcon 9 flight scheduled for December 2020.
Exolaunch planned in April to arrange rides for multiple small satellites on SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare missions, and Loft Orbital is the first announced customer.
Loft Orbital planned to launch its first satellite, YAM-2, on an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in mid-2020 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the pandemic created launch delays.
Exolaunch plans to send another Loft Orbital satellite to space on a 2021 SpaceX flight.
Loft Orbital’s business model entails buying satellite buses from spacecraft vendors and outfitting them with a mix of customer-provided payloads for a fee on Loft Orbital–owned-and-operated satellites.
Loft Orbital is a 30-person startup integrating YAM-2 in house using a satellite bus supplied by Blue Canyon Technologies of Boulder, Colorado.
Loft Orbital raised $13,000,000 to continue development of a constellation of small satellites purpose-built to carry a mix of customer payloads.
YAM-2, YAM-3, and YAM-4 will be built on individually ordered satellite buses, and Loft Orbital plans to place a batch order by April for 10 to 20 satellite platforms from a single vendor.
Loft Orbital’s first satellite, YAM-2, is scheduled to launch by mid-2020 on an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle arranged through Spaceflight.
Loft Orbital has not selected a bus vendor for the YAM-3 mission launching in 2020 and the YAM-4 mission launching in 2021 but expects to announce its vendor choice by the end of 2019.
As of 2019-11-13, Loft Orbital’s total raised reached $20,000,000 in equity and non-dilutive capital.