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A little more than two years. That is how much time it took us to grow from three founders with an idea at a pub in London to a company with 30 team members, 15 telescope locations across five continents, offices in two countries and multimillion contracts to provide data for government and commercial organisations to protect the space environment and contribute to its long-term sustainability. All bootstrapped, without any institutional investors.
As 2024 came to its end and we’re looking ahead to an exciting 2025 we thought it was the perfect occasion to share a short recap of the last two exhilarating years at Spaceflux. Also, what better way to start the Spaceflux quarterly newsletter than to explain how we got here?
Start of the journey
As it usually does, it all started with a problem, which led to an idea. Our co-founders Dr. Marco Rocchetto and Prof. Ingo Waldmann are astronomers and astrophysicists who, for many years, had been using telescopes, building telescope networks, and analysing astronomical data for exoplanetary research. During their years in academia, they became increasingly aware and preoccupied with a growing number of satellites and the resulting congestion in space. That is when an idea flourished: how can we use our experience from astronomy to tackle the problem of congestion in space?
So, in October 2022 we (Marco, Ingo and Marcel) along with a small, but highly talented and motivated team got to work and in just five months we had written the first version of our Cortex software and deployed five telescopes around the world to acquire the best possible optical SSA data.
Early days - one of the first Spaceflux workshops in Venice
Small success came early, as in March 2023 we won our first short contract with the UK government to provide tracking data. This positive reinforcement proved to us and to others that Spaceflux is capable of delivering the highest quality tracking data. Not long after we signed our first commercial contracts as well. This was another very important sign that we were heading in the right direction. These achievements have increased our motivation even further and reassured us that Spaceflux has the potential to be one of the best SSA companies in the world.
To get professional advice in scaling the company we joined and became one of the finalists of one of the best startup accelerators in the world - Creative Destruction Lab. During the programme we had the privilege of working with exceptional mentors, such as Chris Lewicki, Chris Hadfield, Luca Rossettini, and many others who challenged our thinking, our assumptions about the business and helped us in creating an ambitious, long-term vision and strategy for Spaceflux.
From left to right: CCO Marcel Debczynski, Chris Hadfield, CEO Dr. Marco Rocchetto, CTO Prof. Ingo Waldmann during the Creative Destruction Lab in Paris
We were also selected to join the SpaceFounders accelerator, which gathers the best European space startups. Both programmes gave us a chance to connect with the global space ecosystem and to interact with a variety of mentors from different professions, who gave us invaluable advice and direction on how to transform Spaceflux from a young startup to a mature, well-established company.
With other founders during the SpaceFounders startup accelerator
In the meantime, and throughout 2023, we continued developing our software and expanding our telescope network, which by August included sensors in Spain, Australia, US, Northern Africa and Southern Africa– a total of eight sensors in eight different locations installed in nine months by a team of two people.
The joys of telescope installations
The fast-paced development of our network and our data services, which we pursued from day one, paid off in the fall of 2023 as we closed the year with a huge achievement. One that fuelled our growth and transformed Spaceflux from a small startup into a much more mature company, fulfilling the strategy we have been working on with our mentors during the accelerator programmes. In November we won three contracts with the UK Space Command and UK Space Agency (UKSA). Two of them to provide satellite tracking data for a period of two years. One of them, called Project NYX, to deliver the UK’s first sovereign optical SSA system, which we have successfully installed and commissioned in Cyprus in April 2024.
Air Marshal Paul Godfrey announcing Spaceflux as the winner of 3 government contracts during the UK Space Conference in Belfast in November 2023
We take pride in the fact that a startup around one-year old won not one, not two, but three government contracts, which was truly unique and unprecedented. These multimillion contracts with the Ministry of Defence and UKSA were pivotal for Spaceflux’s advancement. They allowed us to grow the company, continue to expand our sensor network and develop our cutting-edge SSA products and services.
The Team
Most importantly these contracts have enabled us to grow our amazing team. It might sound cliché, but all this would not have been possible without our great team of highly talented, professional and dedicated employees. We believe that a company is only as strong as the people building it, and we are deeply grateful to work with such an amazing group of individuals who are passionate about what they do and continue to deliver at the highest level.
Part of the Spaceflux team during team building in Sofia, Bulgaria
In the past year, amazing data scientists, orbital analysts, project managers, as well as specialists in operations, logistics and marketing joined our company.
We have also hired a new Head of Product, who had previously worked for Google for 10 years in a senior position, and a Chief Strategy Officer with a long career working for the government and at executive level in several global corporations. Moreover, in October 2024, Ingo, one of Spaceflux’s co-founders, transitioned from an astrophysics professorship at University College London to join Spaceflux full-time and assume the role of Chief Technology Officer, further strengthening our drive for cutting-edge innovation.
Spaceflux Labs
Thanks to all the incredible talent and unique expertise in AI, data science, and sensor technology we are well-equipped and absolutely focused on pushing the envelope of Space Situational Awareness. That is why in October 2024 we created Spaceflux Labs – a unit dedicated to cutting-edge R&D, led by Prof. Ingo Waldmann. Spaceflux Labs will pursue pioneering projects and will act as a collaborative nexus, facilitating engagement with leading academic research in AI and Space Situational Awareness to accelerate the transition of cutting-edge science into market-ready solutions.
Fragments of the Intelsat 33e satellite tracked by Spaceflux
One of the first projects of Spaceflux Labs is another of our recent successes – the contract we won in September 2024 with the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) to develop a Short Wave Infra-Red (SWIR) sensor, which will enable daytime tracking of orbital objects, further enhancing our unique SSA capabilities.
Spaceflux Labs also worked on tracking the recent Intelsat 33e breakup, making us the first commercial company in the world to report the fragmentation event, a feat which did not go unnoticed.
This event as well as the SWIR contract showcase Spaceflux’s state-of-the-art tracking capabilities and perfectly demonstrate the importance of Labs’ in delivering advanced data analytics as well as cutting-edge SSA solutions to monitor and protect the space environment.
SSA globetrotters
Since its inception we have been building Spaceflux as a global company and making international connections being one of our priorities. This strategy has taken us on a world tour of conferences and various events - over the past two years we have attended over 30 trade shows and conferences in 12 countries, which not only was an interesting adventure, but most importantly it gave us a deep understanding of and insight into the global SSA ecosystem. We have met and talked to hundreds of professionals to understand more deeply the problems this industry must solve.
These events also allowed us to present and promote Spaceflux in various parts of the world. Last year alone, we attended more than 15 events globally, proudly sponsoring several of them, including the Military SSA Conference and the Space Operations Summit in London, the famous AMOS conference in Maui, as well as the Space Sustainability Summit in Tokyo, where we went as part of the official UK trade delegation to Japan. We were also selected as one of 10 companies for the prestigious Seraphim accelerator, which further propelled our growth, enlarged our network of connections and increased our global reach.
In 2025 we’re not slowing down, so you will be able to meet us at many different places around the world!
In Japan as part of the UK trade delegation
Marco and Marcel with the UK team in Hawai'i, at the AMOS conference
2025 and Beyond
We ended 2024 on a high note: we signed several contracts with new commercial and government customers; we moved to a new office in London, and, just before the Christmas break, we opened Spaceflux Italia – our subsidiary company in Italy with an office in the magical city of Venice! This marks a very important step for Spaceflux in becoming an international company with UK roots and expanding into new markets. We are very excited about growing our team in this beautiful country! More about that coming soon.
Venice, Italy - location of our new office
2025 will definitely be at least as exciting as the previous two years at Spaceflux.
Firstly, we continue to expand our telescope network, from 15 locations currently to 25 locations by the end of the year to become the most advanced and versatile optical SSA network in the world. This will further increase our coverage, and most importantly enhance our LEO (low Earth orbit) tracking capabilities. We will be installing our sensors at some unique and beautiful locations, and we can’t wait to add them to our network so our clients can start using them!
Secondly, we will continue to push the envelope on the novel SSA technologies with a big focus on AI data analytics to explore new possibilities of tracking and characterising objects in space. We will be launching new and exciting products and capabilities that will improve SSA and will help our clients in their operations.
Finally, at Spaceflux we believe that the problem of orbital congestion and space sustainability cannot and will not be solved by a single organisation or a single country. That is why we will continue to foster global collaboration and build partnerships to create synergies and solutions beneficial to the safety and sustainability of the space environment.
We would like to thank everyone who have been a part of this fascinating journey so far. You can follow our next steps through our newsletter, our LinkedIn or by connecting with us at one of the many events we will be attending this year.
Have a prosperous and very happy year ahead!
Marcel & Spaceflux Team
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