Observable Space has emerged from stealth with a $90 million Series A led by Lux Capital, the company said in late May 2026. The funding will help scale a network of optical ground terminals and software that moves data to and from satellites — and eventually to orbiting data centers — over laser links rather than radio.
Who’s Investing
The round was co-led by Upfront Ventures, Detroit Venture Partners, Island Green Capital and RTX Ventures, with BRV Capital and Fathom Fund also participating. The funding closed alongside a separate U.S. Space Force IDIQ contract worth up to $94 million, of which $22 million in initial task orders has already been awarded.
The Company
Observable was formed in February 2025 through the merger of PlaneWave Instruments, a Michigan-based maker of professional telescopes, and OurSky, a software company building tools around space observation data. OurSky was led by Dan Roelker, a former SpaceX software executive who now heads the combined entity.
Why Laser Comms, Why Now
Satellite constellations are running into bandwidth and spectrum limits as imagery, edge AI and proposed orbiting data centers push more data through downlinks. Optical, free-space laser links can deliver an order of magnitude more capacity than radio frequencies, and operators from SpaceX to Amazon’s Kuiper have begun fielding inter-satellite optical links. Observable’s pitch is the ground-side complement — a global network of optical terminals plus the orchestration software to manage them.
Where It Fits
The deal is a notable bet on commercial space communications infrastructure as more constellations come online. For related context, see our coverage of Niantic Spatial and Spexi’s city-scale 3D partnership and the Pentagon’s AI deals across classified networks.
Reporting based on coverage from Bloomberg, Lux Capital and the U.S. Space Force.