Loft Orbital

Loft Orbital operates satellite infrastructure that customers use to fly payloads and software without building or operating their own spacecraft. Its offering is split into two lines: physical missions, in which customer payloads are integrated onto Loft's satellite platforms, and on-orbit AI, in which customers deploy and task software applications on Loft's fleet of low Earth orbit satellites. Loft handles integration, testing, launch and operations of the satellites, with its spacecraft flying under the "Yet Another Mission" (YAM) designation.

Hosted missions on Loft platforms span civil, commercial and defense uses. NASA's MURI longwave infrared radiometer launched in January 2023 as a hosted payload on the YAM5 platform. Loft's YAM-3 satellite hosted Scientific Systems Company's AI-enabled edge processing demonstrations for the Space Development Agency's Prototype On-Orbit Experimental Testbed (POET) experiment, and its YAM-6 multi-sensor satellite has hosted edge-computing and analytics software from Little Place Labs (under a US Air Force Phase 2 STTR for maritime domain awareness), SkyServe (the STORM in-space edge computing platform, Mission Denali) and Helsing (onboard radio-frequency signal intelligence). Loft also integrates and operates satellites for constellation operators including EarthDaily and Wyvern's Dragonette hyperspectral constellation.

Loft Federal is the company's US government-facing entity, described as applying Loft Orbital's commercial space approach to national security space missions; it is a FOCI-mitigated entity that hires only US citizens.

Business model

Loft Orbital sells space infrastructure as a service: customers contract for hosted physical payload capacity on Loft-built and Loft-operated satellites, or for deployment and tasking of software applications on Loft's in-orbit fleet, with Loft performing integration, testing, launch and operations.

Traction

The company reports 14 satellites launched, more than 60 customers, 25+ missions deployed and 15+ AI missions on-orbit, operating from three offices. Deployed and announced missions include NASA's MURI radiometer on YAM5, SDA POET experiments on YAM-3, multiple edge-AI payloads on YAM-6, EarthDaily constellation satellites, Wyvern's Dragonette expansion, and Esper's Four Leaf Clover hyperspectral sensors beginning in 2026.

Latest developments

Loft announced an expansion of its commoditized satellite bus inventory for rapid constellation deployments, with combined orders totaling 50 satellites from five suppliers across two continents. It also announced a strategic partnership with Helsing to jointly develop and deploy a multi-sensor satellite constellation for government, defense and security applications, a contract with Honeywell to fly the Canadian Space Agency's Quantum Encryption and Science Satellite mission, and an agreement with Esper to integrate and operate Four Leaf Clover hyperspectral sensors on upcoming YAM satellites starting in 2026. Loft's fleet also hosts NASA-related AI work, including Google's Gemma large language model placed in orbit.