Novo Space

Novo Space is an aerospace and defense hardware company that supplies a satellite electronics platform intended to simplify the development of complex space systems. Its product ecosystem spans electronic boards built to the SpaceVPX standard — including single-board computers, mass memory units and GPUs — radiation-tolerant FPGA IP cores (SpaceWire, SpaceFibre, Ethernet and TCP/IP, CCSDS, NAND controller, floating-point units, among others), and tailored subsystems in which customers select the interfaces, protocols, memory, processors and operating system they require.

The systems are described as standardized, modular and plug-and-play, so that hardware, firmware and software can be reused across missions without redesign, which the company positions as reducing time to orbit, risk and cost. Architectural claims include the absence of shared buses, failures constrained to single interfaces, full internal and external cross-strapping, multi-Gbps interfaces, a compact footprint, and reliance on open standards to avoid vendor lock-in. Drivers are offered for multiple operating systems. Verticals associated with the company include space technology, computing hardware, defense technology, satellite communications and edge computing.

Founding story

Novo Space was founded in 2019 by two engineers who were frustrated by the lack of hardware reuse in the space industry and who together had more than 30 years of combined experience with radiation-hardened technology in large satellites and with consumer electronics in SmallSats. CEO Rodrigo Diez had spent roughly a decade designing and leading teams developing electronic systems for space and defense applications, covering machine learning, laser and RF communications, 3D radars, synthetic aperture radars and satellite subsystems; he graduated top of his electrical engineering class in Argentina, received a Fulbright-administered Presidential Fellowship in Science and Technology, completed a Master of Science in Engineering and Management at MIT and began a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering there, suspending the doctorate in 2019 to build Novo Space full time. CTO Facundo Jorge, who holds a five-year Electronics Engineering degree from the Buenos Aires Institute of Technology, previously worked as an electronics and subsystem engineer at INVAP in Argentina and Surrey Satellite Technology in the UK, with expertise in FPGA firmware development and electronics design using both radiation-hardened and commercial off-the-shelf components.

Business model

Business-to-business sales of space-grade electronic hardware, IP cores and tailored subsystems, with a customer profile spanning hardware sales, services and consulting, and government contracts.

Revenue is associated with hardware sales, services and consulting engagements, and government contracts.

Traction

Reported total funding of $6.91M as of the June 2024 Series A, an employee count of about 40, and participation in the Techstars, Starburst Aerospace and Creative Destruction Lab programs. Investor materials note a portfolio of deployed products spanning computers, signal processors and mass memory units.

Latest developments

A Series A round was recorded on June 12, 2024, with L'ATTITUDE Ventures cited as lead and participation from SpaceFund, SBXi, Techstars, Creative Destruction Lab, Reinventure Capital, Starburst Aerospace and Draper Cygnus.