TAMPA, Fla. — CesiumAstro is in the middle of a Series D funding round to support the phased-array antenna specialist’s transformation into a constellation operator.
The Texas-based company told SpaceNews the round was already oversubscribed as it announced the purchase of mission software specialist 1Aardvark Aug. 25, marking its third acquisition in less than a year to bring more capabilities in-house.
While CesiumAstro has not disclosed its valuation, which a source previously said crossed the $1 billion threshold with a $270 million Series C disclosed in February, the company said the latest round will raise it from its current level.
Venture capital firm Trousdale Ventures led the Series C round, which came alongside $200 million in debt financing from JP Morgan and the U.S. Export-Import Bank’s Make More in America initiative.
Based in Virginia, 1Aardvark specializes in mission software, algorithms and systems engineering for national defense programs, including missile defense and tracking.
Those capabilities will help the Element spacecraft CesiumAstro is developing respond autonomously to changing conditions, according to the company, and continue to operate even when connectivity is limited or disrupted.
Late last year, CesiumAstro acquired AI startup Vidrovr, which has developed software designed to enable payloads and satellites to autonomously optimize radio-frequency performance, tasking and edge processing.
“1Aardvark brings deep mission software expertise that complements the systems we already build and will help us deliver more complete, resilient capabilities to the U.S. government faster,” CesiumAstro founder and CEO Shey Sabripour said in a statement.
While financial details were not disclosed, CesiumAstro said the transaction is smaller than its acquisition earlier this month of semiconductor specialist Jariet Technologies, its largest deal to date and one it expects to add tens of millions of dollars in revenue.
CesiumAstro is preparing to deploy the first Element in October as a precursor to Synchronicity, a proposed constellation of 737 satellites that would use Ku-, Ka- and V-band spectrum to provide connectivity for enterprise and government users.