Sen Launches into Space; Radian Emerges from Stealth

Sen Launches into Space

SpaceFund portfolio company Sen went to space this month! Sen, which will provide live high-resolution video of the Earth from orbit, launched its first constellation satellite on January 13th. After establishing communications with the ground, the satellite is currently undergoing the standard commissioning process. We expect more exciting news from this company in the coming months as the first commercial video stream from space goes live.

Radian Aerospace Emerges from Stealth

As an early investor in such a great project, we’re excited to finally be able to discuss it! SpaceFund One invested in the company’s pre-seed round, and SpaceFund Two was pleased to follow on in the $27.5M seed round that was recently announced. Up until now, Radian has been operating in stealth mode, focusing on the design and initial development of a revolutionary aerospace vehicle that will fill efficiency and capability gaps existing in the traditional vertical rocket industry. With this new round of investment, the company will advance the development of Radian One, the world’s first fully functional horizontal takeoff and landing, single-stage to orbit vehicle. Radian’s system will be capable of a wide range of space operations, including delivering and returning people and light cargo to and from low earth orbit (LEO) with aircraft-like operations.

Other Portfolio Companies in the News

• Axiom: Tom Cruise space movie producers sign deal with Axiom to build studio in orbit
• Axiom: Due to ‘space station traffic’ Axiom’s 1st private crew launch to space station delayed to March
• Cognitive Space: Announcing their $4M seed round (SpaceFund One participated in their pre-seed and SpaceFund Two followed on in this seed round) Startup Cognitive Space using artificial intelligence to manage satellite operations
• Eden Grow Systems: Houston company adapts NASA food-growing technology to use as ‘life support system’ on Earth
• Hydrosat: Hydrosat plans LEO sats to map literal hot spots for military, commercial users
• Orbit Fab: Phase Four and Orbit Fab to work on Maxwell engine refueling
• Orbit Fab: Orbit Fab’s on-orbit fuel shuttle will top up Astroscale’s servicing satellites
• Skyloom: Honeywell and Skyloom ink agreement on space-based optical communications
• Space Forge: Inside the Cardiff company at the forefront of the UK space industry
• Space Perspective: Astranaut & Space Perspective Will Send One Lucky Civilian to Space for Free
• Voyager: Voyager Space Closes Acquisition of Space Micro 

About Sen:
Sen was founded in 2014 by Charles Black with a vision to democratize space using video to inform, educate, inspire and benefit all humanity. Sen’s mission is to stream real-time videos from space to billions of people, gathering news and information on Earth and space and making the data universally accessible and useful. Sen will capture its unique video content using both hosted video cameras and its own constellations of small satellites.

About Radian:
Radian Aerospace (Radian) is disrupting the aerospace industry with a next generation aerospace vehicle that is the world’s first fully reusable horizontal takeoff and landing, single-stage to orbit spaceplane, delivering people and light cargo to low earth orbit (LEO) and multiple terrestrial destinations with aircraft-like operations. Radian will provide the most frequent, reliable, and affordable human transportation in the aerospace industry, inspiring and driving the creation of totally new industries. 

About SpaceFund:
SpaceFund is a venture capital firm, focused on informed investing to create a diversified portfolio of the most profitable space companies. The firm conducts ongoing research projects to provide market intelligence on the entire space startup ecosystem, with a special focus on market size, creation of new markets, financing, and exits. Based on this research, SpaceFund invests in the visionary yet practical high-growth startups addressing the multi-billion dollar space markets that will both enable and benefit from the space revolution.