(Le Bourget) The start-up company Look Up Space, created by former French space commander Michel Friedling, announced on Wednesday that it had raised 14 million euros ($20 million) to develop its space surveillance radar. designed to predict collision threats posed by space debris and proliferating satellites.
Created last year, the start-up raised 7 million euros ($10 million) from the CosmiCapital and MIG Capital funds and the investment company Geodesic Expansion. Greg Wyler, former boss of OneWeb, co-founder of The Exploration Company Hélène Huby and former Minister of Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari also participated.
The remaining 7 million come from public funding, in particular via France 2030. According to Look Up Space and its investors, this demonstrates “the recognition of the strategic importance of the Look Up Space project for the sustainability of space activities and European sovereignty”, say they in a joint statement.
This so-called seed raising will allow the company to develop its radar and the software infrastructure to merge the data by the end of 2024.
The company plans to deploy a network of seven radars by 2030, all located in metropolitan France or in overseas territories to cover the entire sky at all times.
The European Space Agency (ESA) counts 36,000 pieces of debris larger than 10 centimeters and one million larger than one centimeter orbiting the Earth at 28,000 km/h.
The number of satellites launched continues to climb, driven by the rise of constellations of communication or observation satellites.
Some 7,000 satellites are currently in orbit and 24,500 more are to be launched over the next decade, according to specialist consultancy Euroconsult.
So many risks of potential collisions, not to mention the maneuvers of satellites, hostile or intended to develop the economy of service in orbit, which require precise identification of objects in low orbit.
“We respond both to a strategic issue of European sovereignty, to a growing need of private and public actors who have or will have space infrastructures in low orbit, but also to the needs of institutional actors faced with the emergence of irresponsible behavior and orbital threats,” said former French space commander and co-founder of Look Up Space, Michel Friedling, quoted in the statement.