| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Ground Segment as a Service (GSaaS) |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founders | Jonata Puglia, Giovanni Pandolfi Bortoletto, Michele Messina, Matteo Boiocchi |
Key people |
|
| Website | leaf |
Leaf Space S.p.A. is an Italian ground-segment-as-a-service (GSaaS) provider that operates a globally distributed network of radio-frequency and optical ground stations for satellite operators. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Lomazzo, Lombardy, the company supports more than 100 spacecraft with pay-as-you-go connectivity, autonomous pass-scheduling software, and per-minute pricing. [1]
Leaf Space was established in 2014 by four aerospace-engineering graduates—Jonata Puglia, Giovanni Pandolfi Bortoletto, Michele Messina and Matteo Boiocchi—who initially built their first S-band antenna in a garage near Milan. [2] Originally focusing on the launch market, Leaf Space instead decided to build a ground network due to the difficulty to receive funding for a new launcher in Italy. [3]
In March 2021, the company announced plans to open a U.S. office to serve government and commercial customers. [4]
| Date | Monthly Passes | Satellites Supported | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 2021 | Supported 14 satellites from six customers on SpaceX's Transporter-2 mission. [5] | ||
| February 2022 | Supported 13 satellites on SpaceX's Transporter-3 mission. [6] | ||
| March 2023 | 10,000 [7] | 80 [7] | |
| September 2024 | 15,000 [8] | An increase of 50 percent over the year. [8] | |
| July 2025 | 140 [9] | Supported 20 satellites on SpaceX's Transporter-14 mission, 28 percent of the total. [9] | |
| November 2025 | 22,000 [1] | 171 [10] | Supported 31 satellites on SpaceX's Transporter-15 mission, 30 percent of the total. [10] |
| Date | Round | Amount | Lead / notable investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 2023 | Series B | €20m equity + €15m EIB venture debt | CDP Venture Capital, Neva SGR, SIMEST, Digital Transition Fund, RedSeed Ventures, Primo Space, Whysol Investments [7] |
| January 2021 | Series A | €5m | Whysol Investments (€2m), Primo Ventures (€2m), RedSeed Ventures (€1m) [11] |
| September 2015 | Pre-series seed & grants | €5m [11] | EU programmes and Italian VC funds [2] |
The company's flagship service, Leaf Line, offers fully managed TT&C and payload downlink through an API interface, combined with smart scheduler that aids satellite operators in allocating the satellite passes. [12] Leaf Line supports S-band, X-band, and Ka-band operations. Dedicated antennas for specific use case frequencies are marketed under Leaf Key.
| Site | Antennas | Frequencies | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Paz, Mexico | 2 | S-X | Active | |
| Santiago, Chile | 3 | S-X | Active | |
| Punta Arenas, Chile | 3 | S-X, S-X-Ka | Active | Supports rideshare LEOP campaigns like SpaceX’s Transporter missions where multiple satellites are launched together and required a timely support to initiate first communication with Earth. [14] |
| Blönduós, Iceland | 3 | S-X, S-X-Ka | Active | |
| Santa Maria, Azores, Portugal | 3 | S-X | Active | Provides additional capacity for SSO orbits [15] . In collaboration with Edisoft [16] |
| Shetland, United Kingdom | 2 | S-X, S | Active | Boosts capacity for sun-synchronous and mid-inclination orbits [5] |
| Montsec, Spain | 2 | S-X | Active | |
| Plana, Bulgaria | 1 | S-X | Active | |
| Pretoria, South Africa | 2 | S-X | Active | |
| Absheron, Azerbaijan | 2 | S-X | Active | In collaboration with Azercosmos [17] |
| Mon Loisir, Mauritius | 1 | S-X | Active | |
| Peterborough, Australia | 1 | S-X | Active | |
| Awarua, New Zealand | 3 | S-X-Ka | Active | At Awarua SGS teleport [18] |
| Nangetty, West Australia | 2 | S-X | Active | In collaboration with Capricorn Space, delivers more capacity from the southern hemisphere to address increasing clients demand over that area [19] |
| Jeju, South Korea | 1 | S-X | Active | |
| Kandy, Sri Lanka | 1 | S-X | Active | Provids capabilities in the equatorial orbit for the first time [5] |
| Maui, Hawaii | 1 | S-X | Planned | |
| Utqiagvik, Alaska | 1 | S-X-Ka | Planned | |
| Talkeetna, Alaska | 1 | S-X | Planned | |
| Canso, Nova Scotia, Canada | 1 | S-X | Planned | In collaboration with Maritime Launch Services [20] |
| Al Ain, United Arab Emirates | 1 | S-X | Planned | |
| Longwood, St Helena | 1 | S-X | Planned | |
| Kaunas, Lithuania | No longer operational | Second Antenna [21] . No longer included on Leaf Space website. | ||
| Puertollano, Spain | No longer operational | Third Antenna [22] . In collaboration with Deimos Imaging [23] . No longer included on Leaf Space website. | ||
| Cork, Ireland | No longer operational | Fourth Antenna [24] . No longer included on Leaf Space website. | ||
| Italy | No longer operational | Included on Leaf Space map in 2021 [5] . No longer included on Leaf Space website. |