Satellite telecommunications company AscendArc has secured $3.95 million in pre-seed and seed funding to advance its satellite communications technology.
Investors backing the round include Seraphim Space, Everywhere Ventures, Portland Seed Fund, Thermo, and Hunter Communications. This capital will drive efforts to develop small geostationary satellites designed for high-bandwidth communication across military and commercial sectors.
This news follows a recent partnership with OPTISYS, an industrial engineering company aiming to develop a 4.5-meter dish equipped with a high-performance horn antenna. Integrating 3D printed radio frequency (RF) components from OPTISYS, the project combined precision engineering with advanced manufacturing techniques to enhance satellite signal performance.
“This funding and our official emergence from stealth mode represent a major milestone for AscendArc,” said Chris McLain, Founder and President of AscendArc. “We are excited to continue our innovative work with AFWERX and Portland State University, applying our technology to provide scalable, cost-effective solutions that address the U.S. military’s growing demands for advanced satellite systems.”
According to the company, McLain, a former Principal Engineer at SpaceX, has worked on GEO satcom solutions at Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Panasonic. His approach focuses on lowering the cost of geostationary satellite deployment through mass production and rapid deployment.
Advancing geostationary satellite technology
Alongside the funding, AscendArc has been awarded a $1.8 million Phase II Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contract through the U.S. Air Force’s (USAF) AFWERX program. This contract will allow the company to further develop its Rapid, Scalable Geosynchronous Bandwidth technology, an approach aimed at improving satellite data transmission efficiency.
For this contract, the company will work with Portland State University (PSU) to refine its technology for U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) applications, particularly for secure and resilient military communications.
Unlike Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations, which require vast networks to maintain coverage, AscendArc’s scalable geostationary clusters remain fixed over designated locations.
The company reports a tenfold improvement in cost per megabit per second (Mbps) compared to traditional GEO satellites, positioning its technology as a more cost-effective alternative to terrestrial microwave and fiber deployments in rural areas.
Adaptability to DoD frequency bands, telemetry encryption, and anti-jamming requirements will be beneficial to place AscendArc’s satellites in alignment with military communication needs, ensuring secure transmission capabilities that may not be available through third-party operators.
With new funding in place, efforts will focus on accelerating technology development, expanding manufacturing capacity, and advancing satellite hardware toward production readiness. Progress in these areas will determine how effectively AscendArc supports both government and commercial customers in the evolving satellite communications landscape.
3D printing for satellite manufacturing
Many companies are opting for 3D printing, to streamline the production of satellite parts.For instance, National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) announced that it is expanding its use of 3D printing to improve satellite assembly, testing, and tooling.
As part of its Realization and Integration (RI) department, engineers focus on satellite integration, relying on Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) 3D printing with high-performance polymers to produce clean-room tools such as integration frames and multi-purpose trolleys.
Adopting INTAMSYS FUNMAT PRO 610HT and FUNMAT PRO 410 3D printers has streamlined production, reducing tool fabrication time from weeks to a single day. Rapid prototyping and design iterations have made satellite testing more efficient, addressing previous delays caused by lengthy manufacturing cycles, according to the company.
A year before that, in-space manufacturing deep-tech startup Orbital Composites secured a $1.7 million U.S. Space Force SpaceWERX Orbital Prime Direct-to-Phase-II SBIR contract to advance In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) antennas. Funding came from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), with support from Axiom Space, Northrop Grumman, and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI).
The project will focus on enhancing Satellite-Based Cellular Broadband (SBCB) and Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP) applications, aiming to cut costs and expand global broadband and clean energy access.
A Space Factory module launch is planned within three to five years, alongside a Virtus Solis partnership to build the first MW-scale SBSP station. Research extends into Geostationary Orbit (GEO), where Northrop Grumman’s Space Logistics division is refining in-space antenna manufacturing and satellite servicing.
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Featured image shows AscendArc team photo. Photo via AscendArc.
