Kapta Space raises $24 million Series A to scale space surveillance

Seattle-based space technology startup Kapta Space raised $24 million in Series A funding, according to Resilience Media. Washington Harbour Partners led the investment, while Bison Ventures co-led the round.

Additional investors included MetaVC, MYDA Capital, Entrada Ventures, Aurelia Foundry, and Fitz Gate Ventures. The financing brings total capital raised by Kapta Space to $30 million.

Alongside the funding, the company secured multiple classified defense contracts for space-based moving target indication. Moving target indication allows military operators to detect and track moving objects across large areas on Earth from orbit, providing persistent coverage to maintain situational awareness.

Kapta Space develops space-borne target sensing systems designed to steer toward and maintain contact with dynamic targets. The company stated its systems can search, track, revisit, and maintain awareness of dynamic targets at mission scale.

"The mission calls for persistent awareness, and that requires us to rethink how radar has to work at constellation scale," said Milton Perque, chief executive officer of Kapta Space. "Traditional architectures are cost-prohibitive and were never designed for the scale these missions now demand."

Perque added that the capital will allow the company to advance its technology, expand manufacturing, and bring its capabilities through flight qualification and into contracted orbital missions, opening "the door to a new class of persistent tracking and advanced ISR missions from orbit."

The startup has not disclosed the values or specific government agencies associated with its classified contracts. However, the contract awards indicate growing interest from defense organizations seeking alternatives to traditional surveillance systems dependent on aircraft.

"Kapta is rethinking a critical system from first principles," said Ben Hemani, founding partner at Bison Ventures. "By making space-based radar more scalable, cost-effective, and manufacturable, the team is enabling persistent sensing at a scale traditional architectures simply weren’t built to support."

Kapta Space will direct the proceeds toward scaling its satellite hardware and expanding mission operations.