Kayhan Space, a spaceflight safety startup, has secured $7 million in an extension to its seed round funding and has unveiled an autonomous space-traffic coordination framework. The funding comes from Space Capital and EVE Atlas, allowing Kayhan to expand its team, establish a Washington, D.C. office, and develop new products and services.
The company’s CEO and Co-founder, Siamak Hesar, stated that this investment round is a significant milestone for Kayhan Space and the space industry as a whole. The funding will accelerate the development and delivery of Pathfinder 3.0, the world’s first autonomous space traffic coordination framework. Pathfinder 3.0 aims to revolutionize space traffic management by providing a structured protocol for operators to coordinate maneuver responsibility at the machine level and automate collision avoidance using established rules.
Kayhan is planning to commence beta testing of Pathfinder 3.0 in late October. This update builds upon the previous versions of the company’s spaceflight safety platform, Pathfinder 1.0 and 2.0. Pathfinder 1.0 assessed risks of collisions and recommended maneuvers, while Pathfinder 2.0 enabled satellite operators to coordinate collision-avoidance actions.
Pathfinder 3.0 introduces enhanced coordination capabilities. Kayhan has incorporated collision-avoidance planning and execution rules from the Space Safety Coalition’s Best Practices for the Sustainability of Space Operations into the platform. These rules define responsibilities for collision avoidance when satellites from different operators are approaching each other. The system allows operators to accept or decline maneuver responsibility proactively through the Kayhan platform.
Once a potential collision is detected, satellite operators can use the Kayhan platform to share planned maneuvers. The platform also enables machine-to-machine level handling of maneuvers. Kayhan offers products such as the free service, Pathfinder Essentials, and the subscription-based Pathfinder Pro. The beta version of Pathfinder 3.0, which includes autonomous traffic coordination features, will be available for free starting in late October.
Kayhan’s Pathfinder 3.0 will be showcased at the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies (AMOS) conference in Hawaii.
Since its founding in 2019, Kayhan has raised a total of $3.7 million in seed funding. Currently, 22 satellite operators rely on Kayhan’s Pathfinder products to coordinate the activities of over 500 satellites. Chad Anderson, Founder and Managing Partner of Space Capital, emphasized the importance of space-based technologies in our economy and national security. Thiago Olson, Founder and Managing Partner of EVE Atlas, expressed excitement about Kayhan Space’s breakthroughs in spaceflight safety technology at a time when there is an increasing number of satellites in orbit.