Space Kinetic
Propellant-free electromechanical system for deploying space payloads.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | €0.0 | round | |
| N/A | €0.0 | round | |
* | N/A | Seed | |
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Space Kinetic, founded in 2022 by University of California, Berkeley alumni Scott Ziegler and Ryan Sullivan, is a venture-backed startup developing dual-use space technology for national security priorities. The company originated from a garage-built prototype and gained significant support from the New Mexico Lab-Embedded Entrepreneur Program (NM LEEP) at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Ziegler, the principal inventor, and Sullivan, who has an MBA and participated in the U.S. Peace Corps, met during graduate school at UC Berkeley.
The company's core technology is a patented, propellant-free electromechanical system named "Longbow" that deploys a range of smaller payloads from a host satellite at high velocities without firing a thruster. This system utilizes a rotary mechanism to accelerate and then release payloads onto new trajectories, providing an instantaneous velocity change. This capability is designed to offer a low-signature, operationally flexible method for maneuvering assets in space, aiming to bring the economic and operational advantages of proliferated drones on Earth to the space domain.
Space Kinetic's primary markets are space superiority and missile defense. The company operates on a business model focused on developing and providing its payload deployment system to government and commercial clients. It has secured contracts with the US Space Force, DARPA, and the National Science Foundation, as well as a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with the U.S. Department of the Air Force. In August 2025, the company announced it had raised over $12 million in a seed funding round to accelerate the development of its technology. Headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Space Kinetic works closely with Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA).
Keywords: electromechanical deployment system, propellant-free propulsion, space superiority, missile defense, national security space, in-space logistics, dynamic space operations, payload deployment, dual-use technology, satellite deployment, Longbow system, space mobility, defense technology, aerospace and defense, venture-backed startup, Los Alamos National Laboratory, space-based capabilities, deep tech, in-space transportation, host satellite