Santa Fe-based startup Solstar Space Co. is seeking additional funding for its internet technology, which enables connectivity with satellites.
Solstar has raised about $1.3 million as part of a new funding round hosted via virtual crowdfunding platform WeFunder. The company hopes to raise $3.5 million in total, founder and CEO Brian Barnett told Business Business First. The company previously launched a crowdfunding campaign back in 2018 with the goal of raising $1 million.
“As space becomes increasingly congested, space-based communications systems are crucial,” Barnett, founder and CEO of Solstar, said in a prepared statement. The services Solstar offers include "voice, data and internet-based communications" brought to a desktop or smartphone, according to its website.
“We are designing communications solutions that make using your smartphone in space as easy as it is on Earth. Connecting people and spacecraft to resources in space and on the ground is essential for safety, and for extending space exploration, space medicine, monitoring human performance, and on orbit communications."
The announcement comes as the company continues to develop its connectivity systems.
Earlier this year, the AFWERX Small Business Innovation Research Phase 1 contract from the Air Force awarded Solstar a contract for studies with the Department of Defense focused on how its technology "supports continuous connectivity," according to the company. And before that, the startup tested its technology on Blue Origin's New Shepard Rocket.
Solstar was incorporated in 2017 and is just one of a number of startups in New Mexico to turn to crowdfunding. Other companies include broadband company OptiPulse and interactive arts firm Meow Wolf.
