| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Satellite constellation |
| Founded | 2022 |
| Founder | Greg Wyler |
| Headquarters | Toulouse, France [1] and Arlington, Texas [2] |
Key people | Greg Wyler |
| Products | Satellites |
| Website | www |
E-Space is a satellite communications company. [1] Created by Greg Wyler, E-Space satellites are designed to form a "constellation" of small satellites designed to resist fragmenting if struck in orbit. [1] [3]
The company has said that its satellites have also been designed to clean up small pieces of orbital debris, [4] [1] as well as to provide communications services to governments and businesses. [4] [5]
It launched its first three demonstration satellites in May 2022. [6] [7]
E-Space was publicly launched in 2022 by satellite and space entrepreneur Greg Wyler, who previously founded OneWeb and O3b Networks. [1] [8] [4] Based both in France and the United States, [9] the company was created to form a network of inexpensive, small satellites to provide services to governments and businesses. [4] [1]
At launch, it raised $50 million from Prime Movers Lab and other investors. [10] [11]
In February 2022, Wyler told the Financial Times that E-Space would launch up to 100,000 satellites in orbit within a decade, and that their satellites were the "first to be designed to clean space." [4] He said that E-Space technology enables their satellites to collect orbital debris. [12] He also said E-Space satellites are designed to be resilient to a chain reaction of orbital collisions known as a Kessler event. [5]
E-Space's first three demonstration satellites were launched via Rocket Lab launch vehicles in May 2022. [6] [7] As of August 2022, the company had filed for 300,000 satellites through the country of Rwanda. [6] In November of that same year E-Space also became one of the first companies in the world to be listed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's official satellite registry, thus providing legal permission for E-Space to provide land communications traffic in that country. [13]
In December 2022, E-Space announced its first acquisition with the purchase of CommAgility, a unit of the publicly-traded company Wireless Telecom Group that specializes in cellular and satellite signal management. [11] [14]
E-Space satellites are smaller than most other commercial satellites, [15] and are designed to "crumple" if struck in space. [4] [15] The satellites are also designed to collect space debris, and to automatically deorbit at the end of their lifespans to prevent leaving additional debris. [4] [1] [12]