Space DOTS, founded in 2022 by Bianca Cefalo, develops technology to detect space threats. The company has created a software platform called SKY-I for space tech manufacturers and operators to detect, interpret, and attribute natural and human-originated threats in orbit.
Cefalo has previously worked as a thermofluid dynamic analyst on the NASA Insight Mission to Mars and as a product manager at Airbus Defence and Space on telecommunication satellites.
Nearly 15% of spacecraft experience anomalies or failure due to manufacturers’ and operators’ misunderstanding of conditions in space. Ground simulations can only model so much, and the real environment is more complex, with each orbital regime different. Radiation and other factors can cause failures that are often dismissed as glitches or space weather because there is insufficient data to explain them.
Space DOTS generates proprietary in-orbit environmental data and combines it with external sources for real-time attribution, now casting, and forecasting. This provides spacecraft with intelligence to survive and operate effectively in contested space.
The company is already capturing data from its payload in orbit and plans to expand with future launches. It announced a £1.1m seed round led by Female Founders Fund, bringing total funding to over £2m.
Other investors in the round include Sie Ventures, Feel Ventures, and General Electric Company.
Space DOTS differentiates itself by owning both hardware and software, focusing on commercial, defence, and threat attribution rather than only forecasting, and offering decentralised software for resilience and scalability in cislunar and multi-orbit operations.
The seed funding will be used to expand the team in London and the U.S. and prepare technology for upcoming space missions.
