Space Exploration Startups funded by Y Combinator (YC) 2026

Spaceium builds fully automated space stations to refuel and repair spacecraft. We have secured $86.1 million in binding commercial contracts and have an additional $230 million in the pipeline. Additionally, we have 1 billion dollars in letters of intent. We have successfully tested our hardware, which will launch to space next year. Our fully automated space stations will efficiently store and transfer both cryogenic (extremely cold) and non-cryogenic fuels with zero loss during storage and transfer. And they can transfer fuel seamlessly to any spacecraft design using our proprietary modular robotic arm. Our customers include launch vehicles, orbital transfer vehicles, moon landers, and spacecraft that benefit from increased payload capacity and extended travel capabilities. Our long-term vision is to build service hubs along the space superhighway to connect Earth to Moon and Mars and help humanity to become multi multi-planetary species

Care Weather collects the highest-accuracy global weather data to help governments and shipping companies adapt to extreme weather. The data is collected by Care Weather’s unique flat-panel radar satellite, which is 1000X more cost effective because it’s vertically integrated, gets more solar power, and sails on top of the atmosphere for a closer view of the surface. Our team includes CEO Patrick Walton (NASA Earth science fellow) and CTO Alex Laraway (mach 4 rockets). In the last 4 months, we built and launched the smallest radar satellite ever. We have $35M worth of LOIs, including one from the Air Force and others from cargo shippers. Care Weather is backed by Boost VC, Kickstart Seed Fund, Y Combinator, and more.

Quindar is a web app used by satellite owners to analyze, test and operate their constellation. For example, Airbus could use Quindar to operate their satellite fleet with minimal human intervention. We’re six former OneWeb engineers who helped build the software platform that currently operates the second largest satellite constellation in the world. The space industry is shifting from companies launching a handful of satellites over a decade, to launching hundreds of satellites EACH in just a few years. Our SaaS platform automates mission management and for a single engineer to operate hundreds of satellites instead of the traditional model of many engineers operating a single satellite.

AstroForge is an asteroid mining company. Instead of bringing back the entire asteroid, we break it up, refine, and return only what’s valuable.

HEO Robotics visually monitors satellites for governments and defence. We do this by transforming existing Earth observation satellites with software to image other satellites as they fly close by.

Nova: Radically improving access to and from orbit. We’re unlocking the space economy by harnessing the power of full and rapid reusability with Nova, our 100% reusable rocket. Nova offers affordable access to, through, and from space with a 20x reduced cost to orbit. Our reusable upper-stage vehicle delivers on-demand access to any orbit at any time. Its unmatched capabilities enable dynamic space operations, including capture, reposition, long-dwell operations, and return of assets, as well as space cargo and logistics missions.

Turion Space is building spacecraft to move things around in space and image space objects when they’re not, and focused on developing the dual-use technology required to ensure a sustainable future in space. They aim to build a strong foundation selling space domain awareness imagery data while advancing their technology towards an affordable solution for orbital debris removal and eventually asteroid mining. The founding team originates from SpaceX, and after going through the Y-combinator accelerator in summer 2021 went on to raise a $6.2M seed round and is launching their first DROID satellite in early 2023.

Epsilon3 is the AI-Powered ERP, MES, and Test Management Software for Complex Engineering, Manufacturing, & Operations. We are a growing team of engineers from SpaceX, NASA, Google, and Stanford with unique experience planning and executing over 100 space missions. We are applying what we learned to develop web-based solutions that make building and operating advanced systems as efficient, error-free, and enjoyable as possible. Want to join a fully remote, US-based SaaS startup on a mission to solve complex problems in aerospace, energy, defense, maritime, and biotech? Apply today!

With five issued patents covering our core business lines, and more than a dozen additional patents pending this year and more than $5M in revenue, TransAstra is developing the technologies that will drive the rapidly expanding space economy. Our breakthrough Omnivore propulsion system can propel spacecraft, including our Worker Bee commercial OTV with water or virtually any other fluid as a propellant using only concentrated sunlight as a power source. Omnivore is faster, cheaper, and more practical than electric propulsion while being substantially less expensive, safer, and more operationally flexible than legacy chemical propulsion systems. Our Sutter Telescope System can identify and locate resource-rich asteroids and orbital debris that existing technologies can’t find and works synergistically with our Worker Bee OTV for orbital logistics. For government customers, Sutter can identify dark fast-moving objects between Earth and the Moon which currently evade detection, a critical issue for national defense and a key need of the Space Force. We are already using Sutter in ground-based observatories and will begin commercial sales of Sutter SDA data next month having tracked dozens of faint moving objects in space already. Once launched into space, Sutter will be 300,000 times more cost effective than any other known telescope design and will revolutionize sense making in space.

Momentus is a space infrastructure services company. As a first mover, Momentus will offer the most basic, foundational services that enable businesses to flourish in space. With their experienced team of aerospace, propulsion, and robotics engineers, Momentus makes and operates cost-effective and energy-efficient in-space transport and service vehicles that utilize water plasma propulsion technology. Momentus has service agreements in place with numerous private satellite companies, government agencies, and research organizations.

Tesseract is a provider of cost effective propulsion components and systems for in-space applications spanning commercial Earth-orbiting satellites, robotic exploration missions, and human spaceflight.

Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity’s reach into the solar system. Today Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure networks to highly-sophisticated customers across the globe— large enterprises, sovereign governments, and the US military. With five satellites on orbit and many more set to launch soon, the company is servicing a backlog of more than $1 billion of commercial contracts. Astranis is the preferred satellite communications partner for buyers with stringent requirements for uptime, data security, network visibility, and customization. Astranis has raised over $750 million from some of the world’s best investors, from Andreessen Horowitz to Blackrock, and Fidelity, and employs a team of 450 engineers and entrepreneurs. Astranis designs, builds, and operates its satellites out of its 153,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Northern California, USA.

Relativity is building humanity’s multiplanetary future. We invented a new approach to design, build, and fly our own rockets, starting with Terran 1 – the world’s first entirely 3D printed rocket, and Terran R, our next generation medium-heavy lift reusable launch vehicle. As a vertically integrated technology platform, Relativity is at the forefront of an inevitable shift toward software-defined manufacturing. By fusing 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and autonomous robotics, we are pioneering the factory of the future. Disrupting 60 years of aerospace, Relativity offers a radically simplified supply chain, building a rocket with fewer parts and faster iteration. We believe in a future where interplanetary life fundamentally expands the possibilities for human experience. Our long-term vision is to upgrade humanity’s industrial base on Earth and on Mars.