Observable Space, a Sawtelle-based aerospace company, nabbed a $94 million Space Force contract in early May, shortly after closing a $90 million series A funding round.
The $94 million influx of cash is a sole-sourced Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity award from the U.S. Space Force – a federal program that funds projects already developed and ready to test out in the field. The award contract is part of the U.S. Department of Defense’s (or Department of War’s) Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies, which has a goal of expanding the domestic manufacturing of optical telescopes.
“This APFIT award is significant for the sheer speed at which it allows the Department of War to operate,” Jeremy Verbout, the assistant secretary for mission capabilities at the federal department, said in a statement. “The department is acting on the urgent need for mobile, off-grid robotic telescopes with Observable Space’s Deployable, Attritable Optical Systems. These systems will provide the Joint Force with high-fidelity space domain awareness.”
‘Backbone of orbital infrastructure’
Observable Space itself is the product of telescope manufacturer PlaneWave Instruments and space data company OurSky, which merged in 2025. The one-year-old company develops a full stack of optical sensors on the ground, laser communication devices and space systems.
“Fiber optics built the terrestrial internet,” Shahin Farshchi, partner at Lux Capital who led Observable Space’s funding round, said in a statement. “Free-space optics will be the backbone of orbital infrastructure – from defense applications to the bandwidth AI compute demands.”
Observable Space will receive an initial $22 million to manufacture and scale its distributed optical infrastructure.
The company also received $90 million in series A funding, led by Lux Capital and co-led by Santa Monica-based Upfront Ventures, Hollywood Hills West-based Island Green Capital, RTX Ventures and Detroit Venture Partners.
Observable Space will use the fresh funding to nab partnerships, scale production of in-space systems and expand its international footprint. The company’s technologies in laser communications, optical sensors and in-space infrastructure are meant to make space missions easier to navigate, explore and learn.
“If you control light, you control space,” Dan Roelker, co-founder and chief executive officer of Observable Space, said in a statement. “The companies and nations that precisely track objects, navigate spacecraft, and communicate terabits per second will define the next era of the space economy.”
