You Don’t Have To Be A Billionaire To Launch Satellites

John describes Astranis as a maker of small satellites for high orbits, including geostationary orbit. With an aerospace engineering background and experience on large satellite programs, he saw an opportunity to use newer technology and designs for that market. He and Ryan, whom he knew through a student space organization, decided to explore the idea together.

Facing the challenge of raising enough to launch a satellite, the founders set ambitious goals for their three-month YC batch. They chose to build a basic prototype that could demonstrate they could build, integrate, and operate a satellite, while keeping its requirements flexible. The prototype was ready for Demo Day, and a later version launched and operated in 2018.

John’s Demo Day pitch showed both that the team had built a satellite and that it could serve a commercial market. The pitch helped Astranis raise a large seed round, which funded a launch. The team then built in an 1,800-square-foot apartment, using IKEA desks and a PVC-pipe clean room with shower curtains.

Eight years later, Astranis had more than 400 employees and a manufacturing facility at Pier 70. The team uses a shaker table to simulate rocket vibration and thermal vacuum chambers to test satellites under vacuum with their software running. The chambers can also support ion thruster tests, avoiding the need to send that work elsewhere.

Astranis planned to launch four satellites together on a dedicated SpaceX Falcon 9. John says getting satellites operational would help the company scale manufacturing and learn to operate five satellites instead of one. The team was also developing a next-generation system and other programs.