The 14 startups selected for Amazon Web Services’ third annual AWS Space Accelerator program include a company that’s building 3D-printed space capsules, a company that’s developing a fleet of space robots — and even a company that’s headquartered in Amazon’s neck of the woods.
Seattle-based Integrate is the first startup from Washington state chosen to participate in the program.
“I’m stoked (all pun intended) to be supported by a Seattle-based company … as the Seattle space startup scene has grown so much over the past 10 years,” Integrate co-founder and CEO John Conafay told GeekWire in an email.
Integrate was founded last year and raised $970,000 in a pre-seed investment round led by Village Global. Conafay said the company’s team consists of five people “and an additional few part-timers.”
“We’re building software for program management of complex hardware, starting with the space industry,” Conafay said. “I’ve worked in the industry for the better part of a decade and have seen the complexity of putting multiple spacecraft on a single launch with outdated or no digital tools, and we aim to fix that.”
Integrate’s management software is in private beta, with wider release scheduled for later this month. “We currently have over 30 organizations testing the platform, with a few notable paying customers such as Orbit Fab, Isar Aerospace and TrustPoint,” Conafay said.
Conafay said he’s looking forward to the extra support that AWS will provide through the Space Accelerator program. He said Integrate turned to AWS Govcloud when it needed to build a platform that was in compliance with export controls on space technology, known as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations or ITAR.
“Cloud computing is incredibly important to our business strategy, as handling all of the ITAR restrictions with an on-premises solution would be very difficult – in addition, it allows us to scale to hundreds of thousands of users and anticipate our costs easily,” he said.
The AWS team “is probably the most well-connected of any we’ve come across, and has the government, founder and industry experience to support us through early-stage growth as we go out to raise our next round,” Conafay said.
Clint Crosier, director of AWS’ Aerospace and Satellite Solutions, said in a blog posting that the Space Accelerator will help Integrate and the other startups “leverage flexible, agile cloud tools that will help power their space missions and innovate faster.”
The four-week curriculum begins in May. Participants will receive business development and strategy support, mentoring, specialized AWS training and up to $100,000 in AWS credits through AWS Activate. The curriculum also will provide opportunities to work with AWS customers and members of the AWS Partner Network who are interested in the startups’ business solutions.
Participants will show their stuff at a demo day in San Francisco on July 19.
Experts from AWS and TechConnect selected this year’s Space Accelerator startups out of hundreds of applicants. In addition to Integrate, the class includes:
- Delta-V Analytics, a Delaware-based venture with a cloud-based platform that automates satellite constellation operations using digital twin technology.
- GATE Space, an Austrian company that aims to enable the next generation of in-space mobility by providing scalable and cost-efficient plug-and-play mobility to satellites and orbital transfer vehicles.
- GRASP, a French company with a mission to develop satellite instruments and products that provide a full picture of the Earth’s atmosphere and surface.
- In Orbit Aerospace, a California startup that’s building infrastructure to support mass manufacturing in space, including uncrewed orbital platforms and re-entry vehicles,
- Kawa Space. a California company that provides space-powered signals intelligence, electronic intelligence and maritime domain awareness as a service.
- Little Place Labs, a Texas company that specializes in providing near-real-time space analytics, using advanced machine learning algorithms that are deployed directly on satellites and other space infrastructures.
- Lunasonde, an Arizona company that’s developing a radar technology to scan the globe from space and build up a three-dimensional atlas of valuable underground resources.
- Nominal, a Texas company creating continuous validation software for hardware organizations that are testing and deploying high-stakes, complex systems.
- Raven Space Systems, a Kansas company that’s building entirely 3D-printed re-entry capsules for on-demand cargo return from space.
- Rogue Space Systems, a startup in New Hampshire that will provides in-space services through autonomous robotic systems,
- Space Kinetic, a New Mexico company that aims to turn solar power into low-cost, in-space mobility with a novel electromechanical propulsion system.
- Violet Labs, a company headquartered in Minnesota that offers cloud-based software integration for complex hardware engineering.
- Xona Space Systems, a California company whose PULSAR service is a commercial “Super-GPS” designed to provide unprecedented precision, protection and availability.
In addition to announcing this year’s participants, AWS turned the spotlight on Orbital Sidekick, a startup that took part in the first AWS Space Accelerator program in 2021. Orbital Sidekick, also known as OSK, uses satellite technology and cloud-centric data analytics to help the energy industry protect pipelines and make them less vulnerable to risks.
“Already, OSK’s monitoring and intelligent analytic technologies powered by AWS have monitored more than 12,000 miles of pipelines to date, flagging nearly 100 suspected methane leaks, 200 suspected liquid hydrocarbon leaks and more than 300 intrusive events related to construction activities,” Mirza Nizamuddin, a senior solutions architect for AWS Aerospace and Satellite Solutions, said in a blog posting.
