Northwood Space raises $100M and wins $50M Space Force contract

On Tuesday, El Segundo, California-based startup Northwood Space announced two major financial milestones, coming less than a year after the company closed a $30 million Series A funding round:

• A $100 million Series B funding round—the company’s second major venture capital round—led by Washington, D.C.-based Washington Harbour Partners and co-led by Andreessen Horowitz.
• A $49.8 million contract with the United States Space Force.

The United States Space Force contract is aimed at upgrading the satellite control network, which is the government space communications infrastructure used for tracking and controlling satellites. The Department of Defense has been aware of capacity issues with this network since 2011. In 2023, a Government Accountability Office report noted that increased demand and limits on system availability could compromise their missions in the future for satellite users who rely on the network. To address these bottlenecks, Northwood Space is developing ground stations that utilize phased-array antenna systems—a modern antenna system designed to support or replace older, larger dish antennas.

The volume of data being transmitted to and from satellites is likely to keep growing. Currently, Northwood’s portal sites can handle eight satellite links. However, CTO Griffin Cleverly expects the next-generation ground stations to handle 10 to 12 satellite links by the end of 2027, with the overall network capable of communicating with hundreds of satellites. Cleverly noted that this expanded capacity will be most valuable to customers who are scaling into large constellations, which may involve growing from one or two satellites to dozens or more.

The rapid succession of funding rounds reflects intense interest in space and defense technology. Founder and CEO Bridgit Mendler acknowledged the speed of the company’s growth, stating, “Yes, this is happening faster than we thought — you know, two fundraises in the same year and large sums of capital.” However, she pointed out that the company is ready for this pace from a production standpoint. Mendler explained that the resources were intentionally secured to support upcoming missions and prevent resource constraints from blocking customer support. She noted that addressing the entire ground station problem holistically under one roof is a capital-intensive and risky undertaking, but one that she believes will produce significant value for the industry.

Why it matters

Northwood Space is addressing critical capacity constraints in the US satellite control network, a long-standing issue that threatens mission reliability for government and commercial operators.