Capella Space, a space tech company providing synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data solutions, has been awarded a USD 15 million AFWERX Ventures Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) contract by the US Air Force (USAF).

The funding will advance Capella's SAR technology, including developing a next-generation SAR sensor with enhanced resolution, lower latency, and dual-polarization operation. These improvements aim to support USAF capabilities and mission requirements and benefit commercial applications in various fields such as defense, agriculture, environment, and disaster response.

This contract builds upon Capella Space's existing partnerships with other US government agencies, including the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National Reconnaissance Office, US Navy, US Space Force, and NASA.

Analyst QuickTake: Capella Space also secured a USD 14.9 million contract from the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in August 2024 to provide SAR imaging services and integrate the SAR data into Global Unification Environment, AFRL's cloud-based platform. Further in August 2024 , it launched two satellites consecutively within five days to the Capella Space constellation aboard the Electron rocket.