Array Labs raises 20 million US dollars for scalable radar technology

The US space and radar technology startup Array Labs has closed a Series A financing round of 20 million US dollars. The round is led by Catapult Ventures, with other investors including Washington Harbour Partners, Kompas VC and existing and new backers such as Y Combinator, Maiora Capital, Animal Capital, Aera VC, Cultivation Capital and Clearance Ventures.

The current financing brings Array Labs' total capital raised to 35 million US dollars. The company had previously closed a seed round of USD 5 million (2022) and a further financing round of USD 10 million in 2024 following the round at Y Combinator.

Radar architecture modeled on consumer electronics

Array Labs claims to be developing a new type of radar architecture that is designed for mass production for the first time. Instead of using individually manufactured, cost-intensive systems, the company is relying on manufacturing methods from consumer electronics and telecommunications. The aim is to drastically reduce the cost structure of traditional radar systems while significantly increasing performance.

CEO and co-founder Andrew Peterson compares today's radar satellite market with the space industry before SpaceX: characterized by established defense companies that produce complex one-off products. Array Labs, on the other hand, is pursuing the approach of producing high-performance radar hardware at commercial prices and on an industrial scale.

From data provider to radar platform

Originally, Array Labs planned to operate its own constellations of small satellites to cooperatively generate real-time 3D images of the Earth. However, as the technology developed further, it became apparent that the radar instruments themselves in particular were attracting great customer interest.

As a result, the business model changed from a vertically integrated Earth observation provider to a radar-centric platform. Today, Array Labs operates three business units:

• Radar Payloads for Satellite Manufacturers and Defense Primes
• Sovereign satellite systems for customers who want to operate their own radar assets
• Data products in the form of 3D image data and analyses from the company's own satellite constellation

All business areas are based on a family of radar systems which, according to the company, are up to 100 times more powerful than existing solutions at around one percent of the cost.

Strong demand from defense and industry

Over the past two years, Array Labs has been selected for several competitive funding and development programs with the U.S. Armed Forces, including projects with the Air Force, Space Force, Navy, Army, SOCOM and DARPA. The work includes high-performance antennas, broadband communication systems and 3D reconstruction algorithms.

The company is also experiencing growing demand on the commercial side. Array Labs has signed multi-year capacity contracts for its first radar satellite constellation with companies in the mining, infrastructure and AI-based automation sectors. Customers will use the 3D data to monitor critical industrial assets, protect infrastructure and improve autonomous systems.

Preparing for production and first satellite launch

Array Labs will use the fresh capital to expand its engineering, product and go-to-market teams, ramp up production of the radar panels and complete flight qualification. The long-term goal is to launch the world's first formation-flying radar satellite constellation.