Xplore
Facts
- HQ
- Bellevue, Washington, US
- Sectors
- Defense and Space Manufacturing
- Founded
- 2017
- Employees
- 36
K2 Space Opens Seattle Engineering Office to Support Production of Mega-Class Satellites with $1 Billion in Contracts
K2 Space, a California-based company specializing in large, high-power satellites for government and commercial clients, is opening an engineering office in the Seattle area to support its growth. The company has raised over $500 million, secured $1 billion in contracts, and plans to produce hundreds of satellites annually by 2030.
Cowboy Space Raises $275M at $2B Valuation, Plans 40-60 Hires for Seattle Satellite and Rocket Hub
Cowboy Space Corp., founded by Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt, raised $275 million in a Series B round valuing the company at $2 billion and is hiring 40-60 employees for its new Seattle satellite and rocket engineering hub. The company develops solar-powered satellites that function as data centers and builds integrated rockets to launch them, competing for talent in Seattle's aerospace sector.
Xplore says it has raised $16.2M to back ‘Space as a Service,’ with $4M in non-dilutive agency contracts
Xplore, a Redmond startup founded in 2017, reports it has raised $16.2 million in venture funding and contracts to support its 'Space as a Service' satellite program, including about $4 million in non-dilutive awards from agencies like the Air Force, NASA and NOAA. The company of roughly 20 employees is preparing its first mission, scheduled for late this year, supported by investors such as Alumni Ventures and Dylan Taylor.
Xplore wins $2 million NSIC contract to accelerate Xcraft development, first LEO launch planned for 2023
Xplore received a $2 million contract from the Pentagon’s National Security Innovation Capital to accelerate development and component acquisition for its Xcraft spacecraft platform, which is slated for a first low-Earth-orbit launch in 2023 and will support payload hosting and space telescopes in partnership with the W.M. Keck Observatory.
Chloe Harford Joins Roofstock Board as Kymeta Names Walter Berger and Doug Hutcheson Co-CEOs
Chloe Harford, a former Zillow and OfferUp executive, joined Roofstock's board as the fintech firm continues to expand after acquiring Great Jones and raising $133 million; Kymeta named Walter Berger and Doug Hutcheson co-CEOs and partnered with OneWeb to test mobile satellite broadband. Seattle startups Optimize Health and CityBldr announced leadership moves: Todd Haedrich became Optimize Health CEO, and Convoy CEO Dan Lewis joined CityBldr’s advisory board.
Xplore opens 22,000‑sq ft satellite manufacturing facility in Redmond, to start production in June
Xplore has leased a 22,000-square-foot satellite manufacturing facility in Redmond, Washington, in the former Planetary Resources complex and will begin moving in June to produce ESPA-class XCraft and LightCraft spacecraft. The company plans to build up to 20 spacecraft per year for commercial customers and U.S. agencies including NASA, NOAA, the Space Force and Air Force.
Xplore wins $50,000 AFWERX award to design cislunar GPS-like navigation for Xcraft missions
Seattle-based smallsat company Xplore won a $50,000, three-month AFWERX award from the Air Force to design a position, navigation and timing (PNT) architecture for cislunar missions, aiming to extend GPS-like tracking to the moon. The study supports Xplore’s Xcraft plans (first launch as early as next year) and explores concepts like Cubesat-sized "space buoys" to enable triangulation in deep-space and highly elliptical orbits.
