A Herndon space company has scored a $40 million investment to increase the constellation of satellites it uses to detect and convert radio frequencies on Earth into geospatial insights for defense and commercial interests.
The debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank, acquired by First Citizens Bank following the former's collapse last year, brings HawkEye 360 Inc.'s total outside investments to more than $400 million since its founding in 2015.
Last October, the company picked up a $10 million addition from Lockheed Martin Ventures — the venture arm of Bethesda-based defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) — to its then-$58 million Series D-1 funding round, which it closed a few months prior in July.
HawkEye 360 said the new funding is "crucial" to building out its infrastructure of its satellite constellations. The company has put a total of 21 satellites in space across seven successful launches, the most recent of which took place last April. It aims to have 60 satellites, configured as 20 groups of three each, orbiting at about 360 miles above Earth's surface by 2025, according to Via Satellite.
The funding "enhances" HawkEye's ability to innovate vital geospatial solutions, CEO John Serafini said in a statement.
The company has partnered with commercial space launching firms SpaceX and Rocket Lab to get its satellites into orbit, which first began in December 2018. It has won contracts from the Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office.
Last December, HawkEye 360 acquired RF Solutions from Westminster, Colorado's Maxar Intelligence, the parent company of RF Solutions.
HawkEye employs about 180 people, almost all of whom work out of the company's headquarters on Van Buren Street near Dulles International Airport in Herndon.
