Loft Orbital already has two missions in orbit.

Space infrastructure startup Loft Orbital flies customers’ payloads into space aboard its regularly scheduled satellites missions, and as well, handles the entire mission as a service for the customer. It raised $140 million in a funding round led by BlackRock (NYSE: BLK). (CNBC)

Loft procures qualified, commodity satellite buses in advance and offers this ‘inventory’ off-the-shelf to customers in satellite missions that are ‘plug-and-play,’ because it has also developed the relevant software and hardware products for these ‘YAMs,’ or ‘Yet Another Mission.’ Loft therefore delivers payloads to orbit in months not years.

Loft Orbital and its YAMs

YAM 2 and YAM 3 missions, both launched in June 2021, are already on orbit. YAM 4 and YAM 5 are manifested but full missions, slated for Q4 and Q2 respectively of 2022.

YAM 6 is scheduled to launch in Q3 of 2022 and space is available to customers on this mission.

“If you’re a customer with either a single payload or a constellation that you want to put in space, but you don’t want to be the one building or designing your own satellite – dealing with the manufacturer, dealing with the launch provider, and then actually operating it once it’s in space – then you work with someone like us,” said Loft Orbital co-founder and COO Alex Greenberg to CNBC.

Of the total funding, $130 million was accounted by investors including CEAS Investments, Foundation Capital, Uncork Capital, Ubiquity VC and others. Short-term convertible notes raised another $10 million from the same investors, and these notes converted into capital in the funding round.

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Feature Image Credit: Loft Orbital Via LeFigaro