Kayhan Space Raises $7 million, Unveils First-Ever Autonomous Space Traffic Coordination Service

 September 19, 2023

Kayhan Space has raised $7 million in an oversubscribed seed extension round to accelerate commercial delivery of the industry’s first autonomous space traffic coordination (STC) framework, at the core of its all-new Pathfinder™ 3.0 spaceflight safety platform.

Venture capital firms Space Capital and EVE Atlas have funded the extension round, following in-depth reviews of the Kayhan Space technology roadmap and aggressive delivery plans for current and new generations of products and services, including Pathfinder 3.0, for both commercial and government markets. Kayhan Space will also leverage new funding to open an office in Washington, DC and scale its U.S.-based team of 20 employees to more than 30, adding executives and specialists in key roles ranging from business development to engineering and marketing.

Pathfinder 3.0 provides major new features that combine conjunction risk assessment, optimized collision avoidance maneuver planning, and for the first time, the ability to autonomously pre-coordinate maneuver responsibility and event mitigation status at the machine-to-machine level using the Space Safety Coalition (SSC) Best Practices for the Sustainability of Space Operations. Pathfinder 3.0 is the first commercially available software platform that incorporates the SSC’s Rules of the Road (RotR) as optional presets for establishing maneuver responsibility, as well as other best practices and recommendations, into a mature software-as-a-service (SaaS) application that owner-operators can deploy and automate in their day-to-day satellite operations.

Operators managing increasingly complex constellations in congested orbits can sign up for Kayhan’s tiered Pathfinder offerings, including the free Pathfinder Essentials service and the subscription-based Pathfinder Pro, to seamlessly assess fleet status and threats and automatically implement real-time collision avoidance measures. A Pathfinder 3.0 beta release will be available this Fall, with its new space traffic auto-coordination features available to all satellite operators free of charge in the Pathfinder Essentials tier.

“Kayhan Space is leading mission-critical developments across an impressive lineup of space situational awareness software solutions that are making it possible for satellite and mission operators to scale their fleets with confidence,” said Thiago Olson, Founder and Managing Partner, EVE Atlas. “EVE Atlas is excited to be an investor in Kayhan Space and its spaceflight safety technology breakthroughs at this pivotal time, as an unprecedented number of satellites and mission spacecraft are taking flight throughout increasingly busy orbits.”

Kayhan’s flagship Pathfinder spaceflight safety solution is relied on today by dozens of operators navigating hundreds of dynamic missions in congested space.

“This significant investment round with Space Capital and EVE Atlas marks a major milestone for Kayhan Space and the overall space industry, as we accelerate delivery of the first-ever autonomous space traffic coordination

framework in Pathfinder 3.0,” said Siamak Hesar, Kayhan Space CEO and Co-Founder. “Pathfinder 3.0 is a gamechanger for space traffic management, as it provides a structured protocol for operators to coordinate maneuver responsibility at the machine level, and then automate maneuverability and collision avoidance at scale using an established rules-based framework.”

“Space-based technologies are critical to our economy and national security and the ability for satellite operators to effectively share data, coordinate actions, and avoid a broad range of operational threats on orbit is game changing,” noted Chad Anderson, Founder and Managing Partner, Space Capital. “Kayhan picks up where existing solutions leave off; their software solution provides unprecedented capability for satellite owner-operators and we are thrilled to support them in this journey.”

Kayhan Space is previewing Pathfinder 3.0 and the new autonomous space traffic coordination framework at the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies (AMOS) Conference, an event devoted to space situational awareness and space domain awareness held in Maui, Hawaii September 19-22, 2023.