FOSSA

Market position

FOSSA describes itself as an internationally present company that has moved beyond startup stage, with 25 satellites launched and customers among industrial, institutional and governmental organizations, and states a goal of becoming a European benchmark in sovereign space infrastructure. It is one of several Spanish ventures in satellite IoT connectivity; SpaceNews notes that the same state-backed fund previously invested EUR 14 million in Spain's Sateliot, which is developing a comparable network with security and defense applications.

FOSSA emphasizes vertically integrated, in-house manufacture of very small satellites at low cost, plus ownership of its ground segment, allowing it to offer both connectivity as a service and dedicated customer satellites. It originated in open-source satellite hardware and software work published on GitHub. In 2022 it was described as the European company that launched the most sub-1 kg nanosatellites, and it positions its latest 6U platform as modular and adaptable across IoT, RF/SIGINT and earth observation missions.

Technology

FOSSA builds nanosatellites and picosatellites for low Earth orbit carrying IoT receivers and software-defined radios that operate as orbital IoT base stations for LoRa/LPWAN devices. Its 3U platform offers 6 kg mass, 1U payload volume, UHF (9k6) and S-band (1 Mb) radio, 30 W peak power and sub-degree attitude determination; the 6U platform offers 12 kg mass, 2U-3U payload volume, UHF, S-band and X-band (100 Mb) radio, 60 W peak power, and electrospray propulsion up to 500 m/s delta-V. Payload options cover IoT, RF sensing for SIGINT/ELINT, earth observation, and customer payloads. FOSSA also builds ground stations, which communicate with the satellites and sensors using LoRa technology, and has open-sourced satellite software and hardware on GitHub. Reported picosatellite capacity is up to 400,000 messages per day.

Go-to-market

FOSSA sells directly to corporate, industrial, institutional and governmental customers, and pursues partnerships and channel relationships such as those with WISeKey and, in Japan, Kanematsu Corporation. It has signed agreements to launch satellites for third parties including Platzi and WISeKey, and participates in public and defense-oriented programs such as a NATO innovation accelerator and CDTI's NEOTEC grant scheme. Launch access is obtained via rideshare missions, primarily SpaceX Transporter flights.

Corporates, SMEs, institutional and governmental customers with assets in remote or poorly covered regions, across energy and utilities, infrastructure and construction, smart farming, logistics, oil and gas, and national security and defence.

Geography

Headquartered in Madrid, Spain, with a presence in Lisbon, Portugal, and ground stations in Madrid and La Linea, Spain. The company serves customers worldwide and opened an office in Tokyo, Japan, its first expansion outside Europe, alongside a strategic agreement with Kanematsu Corporation. It has stated it intends to open additional subsidiaries.

History

FOSSA began in 2018 as a non-profit youth association founded by Julian Fernandez, then 16, with the stated aim of democratizing access to space and IoT adoption; a distributed group of contributors built FOSSASAT-1 as an open-source LoRa IoT repeater, with the first launch project sponsored by Everis Aerospace & Defense (later acquired by NTT Data). FOSSASat-1 launched in December 2019 on an Electron rocket as the first Spanish picosatellite. Fossa Systems S.L. was formally incorporated in Spain on 13 July 2020 by Julian Fernandez (CEO) and Vicente Gonzalez (CTO). The company grew organically to six employees and EUR 160,000 in sales before raising EUR 765,000 in seed funding from WISeKey and Newmind Venture in early 2021, and reported over EUR 1 million in cumulative revenue by the close of that first round. A EUR 318,000 NEOTEC grant from CDTI followed in 2022 for an earth-observation and IoT satellite platform.

Launch activity scaled from 2022 onward: six FOSSASat-2E satellites in January 2022 and seven PocketQubes in May 2022, both on SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshares, making FOSSA the European company that launched the most sub-1 kg nanosatellites that year (13 in total). Four FEROX satellites followed on Transporter-8 in June 2023. A EUR 6.3 million Series A led by Nabtesco Technology Ventures and Indico Capital Partners closed in 2024. Three 3U nanosatellites launched on Transporter-12 in January 2025, a 21st satellite on Transporter-14 in June 2025, and three more 3U satellites on Transporter-15 in October 2025, coinciding with the company's fifth anniversary. FOSSA joined a NATO innovation accelerator in December 2025, opened a Tokyo office, raised roughly $10.5 million (EUR 9.25 million) led by Kibo Ventures in June 2026, and reached 50 employees in January 2026. FOSSA-026 launched on Transporter-17 in July 2026.

Risks & controversies

The Wikipedia entry on the company carries an editorial notice that some of its listed sources may not be reliable. Publicly stated constellation targets have shifted over time, from 80 satellites by 2024 to a network of 140 spacecraft, against roughly 25 satellites launched. An early launch attempt, the 2021 Firefly Alpha PICOBUS mission carrying FOSSASat-1B and FOSSASat-2, failed to reach orbit. The company depends on third-party rideshare launch providers, principally SpaceX, and is expanding into defense and sovereign infrastructure markets that involve government procurement and regulatory exposure.