Apolink, a Y Combinator-backed space-tech startup based by a 19-year-old Indian-origin entrepreneur, has raised $4.3 million in an “oversubscribed” seed spherical at a $45 million post-money valuation to construct a real-time connectivity community for satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO).
The startup is tackling a persistent drawback in house communications. Satellites regularly go offline throughout components of their orbit as a consequence of lifeless zones — intervals when they don’t seem to be within the line of sight of a floor station. Whereas relay satellites and world floor station networks assist scale back this downtime, they solely present partial options.
That hole has turn into crucial because the house business evolves. For years, NASA relied on its Monitoring and Knowledge Relay Satellite tv for pc (TDRS) system to take care of near-continuous contact with satellites in geostationary orbit. However in 2022, the company introduced it might progressively section out TDRS and transition to industrial suppliers for satellite tv for pc communications. Most of those industrial methods nonetheless give attention to geostationary or medium Earth orbits. Apolink, previously often known as Bifrost Orbital, goals to alter that by offering 24/7 connectivity to LEO satellites — with every orbital ring designed to deal with 256 customers at 9.6kbps.
“LEO has its own advantages,” stated Apolink founder Onkar Singh Batra in an unique interview. “It’s much closer than geostationary orbit, which means closing the link between the customer satellite and our constellation is way easier… that’s where you make the power requirements limited, and that’s where the compatibility comes in as well.”
Apolink’s strategy stems from Batra’s early recognition of this connectivity problem. On the age of 14 in 2020, he developed an curiosity in house. In 2022, when he was in twelfth grade at a protection faculty within the northern Indian metropolis of Jammu, he created a satellite tv for pc system named InQube, which emerged as India’s first open-source satellite tv for pc. He additionally taught house ecosystems to engineering college students as a visitor professor at IIT Jammu between 2022–23.
Whereas engaged on his first satellite tv for pc system, Batra acknowledged the satellite tv for pc connectivity drawback and observed that current options didn’t present backward compatibility, requiring particular {hardware} to allow community entry in orbit.
In response to Batra, the problem stay as a result of all different inter-satellite hyperlinks (ISLs) lack interoperability and usually are not compliant with the Area Growth Company’s necessities.
“We solve this [through] our hybrid-RF optical architecture and no user terminal, hardware-independent approach,” he acknowledged.
Some startups have tried to deal with darkish zones by constructing new floor stations. Nonetheless, Batra famous that floor stations are “very cumbersome to work with and can’t guarantee a 24/7 link.”
“The maximum you can afford is a reliable continuous link to the ground during the window,” he stated.
Based in 2024, the Palo Alto-based startup plans to resolve the issue with a constellation of 32 satellites that embody lasers and radios to allow connectivity even for satellites that lack particular {hardware}.
Apolink, which accurately means Apogee-plus-link, goals to supply virtually 99% uptime and 10–15 seconds of latency. The latency will probably be additional diminished to 2–3 seconds as soon as the community is established.
Corporations, together with Amazon’s Kuiper and SpaceX’s Starlink, are additionally constructing inter-satellite hyperlinks to deal with connectivity points for satellite tv for pc prospects. Nonetheless, Batra stated that almost all gamers with multipurpose constellations don’t dedicate them to digital relays, leading to restricted bandwidth obtainable for patrons. Additionally they require prospects to have an optical terminal put in on their web site for connectivity.
“Other ISL players focus on Ku/Ka-band and use optical terminals for EO image downlink, and we don’t,” he informed TechCrunch.
The startup has its personal FCC license, eliminating the necessity for patrons to meet further licensing necessities. Moreover, it produces satellite tv for pc elements, together with lasers and radios, in-house to make sure they’re suitable with its algorithms.
In Q2 2026, Apolink goals to launch its preliminary demo mission by way of a SpaceX rideshare. The mission will characteristic a 3U expertise demonstration satellite tv for pc, LinkONE/IPoS, designed to verify the backward-compatible radio-frequency relay in low Earth orbit, Batra stated.
A second demo is anticipated in June 2027, that includes two satellites. In 2028, the startup will roll out its industrial constellation, with the complete constellation of 32 satellites anticipated to be launched in 2029.
Regardless of being within the early levels, the startup has already secured greater than $140 million in letters of intent from corporations within the Earth commentary, communication, and spatial knowledge sectors, together with Astro Digital, Hubble Community, and StarCatcher Industries.
Its new seed spherical was backed by Y Combinator, 468 Capital, Unshackled Ventures, Insurgent Fund, Maiora Ventures, and several other angel traders, together with Laura Crabtree (CEO of Epsilon3), Benjamin Bryant (co-founder of Pebble Tech), and Kanav Kariya (president of Leap Crypto).
Apolink operates with has a core crew of 4, every with greater than 5 years of business expertise and from corporations together with Maxar, Audacy, and Astra, positioned inside a 4,000-square-foot R&D facility. The corporate at the moment focuses on spacecraft integration and testing and is working with early companions to validate its system in orbit.
