E-Space  announced it has closed the largest seed funding round in space technology history with a $50 million investment led by Prime Movers Lab.

E-Space is pioneering a new network, with filings in hand for potentially over one hundred thousand secure communication satellites, to help businesses and governments access the power of space to solve problems on Earth. Created by industry pioneer Greg Wyler, who previously founded both O3b Networks and OneWeb, E-Space is enabling a new generation of space-based communications capabilities. In a world where satellites are becoming space polluters, the new E-Space systems have the double bottom line of sustainability as they will eventually actively and sacrificially capture and deorbit small debris in space while performing their function as communications satellites.

“One of the best ways to understand and manage Earth is from space,” said Greg Wyler, founder and chairman of E-Space. “We designed E-Space to democratize space, to enable the collection of continuous data about our planet with real-time information of sensors and devices across the world to combat climate change, and to upgrade our electric grids. Importantly, we’ve built sustainability into everything we do. We are designing our systems to not only prevent space debris generation, but to eventually actively reduce space debris so generations to come will be able to access the power of space.”

“Greg is an icon of space innovation with an unparalleled track record of pushing the industry forward by turning bold ideas into everyday reality,” said Anton Brevde, Partner at Prime Movers Lab and E-Space Board Member. “E-Space is uniquely built to bring the power of space to any business or government while actively reducing the existential threat of space debris. The company already has several advanced conversations with major customers and is poised to take satellite mesh networks mainstream.”

Just as Amazon Web Services enabled a new generation of services across every industry built on near-infinite low-cost cloud infrastructure, E-Space will be a foundational platform to help governments and large companies build space-based applications in a capital light manner. E-Space will provide the world’s first federated systems that can dynamically extend satellite capacity for a multitude of applications, ranging from secure communications to managing remote infrastructure.

Core to this approach is E-Space’s new generation of satellites that make space affordable and accessible, enabling custom networks for companies and governments globally while providing unparalleled security and resiliency. E-Space’s novel peer-to-peer satellite communication model enables real-time command and control and global insights. Dedicated constellations ensure sovereignty and eliminate exposure to foreign entities, using a “Zero Trust” topology to protect data.

E-Space places sustainability at the heart of its architecture, building on five key design tenets to make space safe:

1. Minimize satellite debris on collision: Satellites should minimize the number of new debris objects that are generated, with zero being the ideal goal.
2. Capture and deorbit: Satellites should be designed to minimize the debris from objects they hit and capture debris they contact to prevent further collisions.
3. Fail safe: Satellites should be designed to fail into a high-drag configuration where they passively, and quickly, deorbit.
4. 100% demise: Satellites must fully demise upon re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
5. Small cross section: Large cross-section satellites crowd others from space and will cause collisional cascading and debris creation. Small cross-sections make satellites much less vulnerable to collision and LEO constellations should limit their individual and cumulative cross-sections. System-wide cross-sections should be tracked and considered relative to calculations on total orbital carrying capacity, for individual altitudes to enable appropriate sharing.

The investment fully funds E-Space’s “Beta 1” launch of its first test satellites in March 2022 as well as its second “Beta 2” launch later this year. Mass production is slated for 2023. The company is composed of two independent entities based in France (E-Space SAS) and the United States (E-Space, Inc.).