Littleton aerospace company Aphelion Aerospace was recently named to a New Mexico-based incubator-like program.
NewSpace Nexus, a New Mexico-based nonprofit aimed at fostering the development of aerospace startups across the country, named Aphelion Aerospace and 11 other startups as the latest group of companies joining its flagship "Ignitor" program.
The Ignitor program develops companies through three different tiers based on their technology readiness levels, said Casey Anglada DeRaad, NewSpace's CEO.
Satellite and spacecraft startup Aphelion Aerospace develops eco-friendly propulsion tech. The startup was co-founded in 2019 by Miguel Ayala and Matthew Travis, both of whom have extensive backgrounds in the engineering and aerospace industries. Aphelion Aerospace was awarded a NASA contract three months ago to support its long-term space exploration goals, including the research of autonomous ground processing, testing and launching.
In addition to Aphelion Aerospace, other companies joining the program are:
- Above Space (Huntsville, Alabama)
- Berlin Space Technologies GMBH (Berlin-Adlershof, Germany)
- Dash2 Labs (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
- Data Squared USA Inc. (Wilmington, Delaware)
- Desert Works Propulsion LLC (Carrizozo, New Mexico)
- DornerWorks (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
- Hoonify Technologies Inc. (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
- Light Steering Technologies Inc. (Manchester, New Hampshire)
- SCI_ZONE Inc. (Holland, Michigan)
- Space Products and Innovation GMBH (Darmstadt, Germany)
- Spectronn (Holmdel, New Jersey)
Although all of the companies chosen for the new cohort aren't strictly aerospace-related, all are developing space-enabling technologies, DeRaad said. NewSpace's Ignitor program is unique from other incubators or accelerators, she added, which typically have a specific market focus or are run for shorter periods.
"I think our key niche is we're trying to get the suppliers to the money — I say the suppliers to the buyers," DeRaad said. "We're trying to expose them to knowing what government contracts are out there, introducing them to investors or introducing them to other partners."
NewSpace estimates it's helped recently graduated and existing Ignitor companies land around $25 million in funding through a blend of government contract dollars and private investment.
DeRaad said 24 startups were in consideration for the new Ignitor cohort. A network of aerospace experts who work with NewSpace Nexus narrowed the field down to the 12 chosen companies based on criteria that included tech readiness levels, time in business and strength of team members, she added.
NewSpace did provide some resources to the startups not selected, such as networking connections and introductions to other incubator and accelerator-type programs.
In addition to the newly named business, NewSpace's Ignitor has a slew of companies already in the program, split between the three different tears.
Representatives from the 12 companies were in Albuquerque on Dec. 6 for NewSpace Nexus' inaugural Show Space Summit. The summit included pitches from the 12 new Ignitor companies and a ceremony for 11 companies that "graduated" out of the Ignitor program, DeRaad said.
