In 2023, Ashi Dissanayake, co-founder of Spaceium, an innovative in-space fueling startup, commenced her journey using her home dryer as her workstation. Together with co-founder Reza Fetanat, they dominated the tasks from a small apartment in Ottawa.
Years later, they have an official workplace, earned a place at Y Combinator, and secured a well-received $6.3 million seed funding round headed by Initialized Capital. The team plans a demo mission to showcase their breakthrough technology this year, hinting towards a solid customer base.
Their shared passion for space exploration and research brought the duo together at the University of Ottawa, where they focused on rocketry. Their involvement in many aspects, from rocket structures to parachute development, exposed the significant industry gap—limited refueling options in space.
Presently, spacecrafts carry all required fuel for a mission, turning them into space debris post-mission—an issue Spaceium aims to solve.
For sustaining extensive or deep-space missions, like potential Mars colonization, obtaining in-space fuel is crucial. Spaceium aspires to create a space superhighway—multiple refueling stations for spacecrafts to dock, refuel, and proceed with their ventures.
The spatial refueling space has other players, like Orbit Fab, which has been around for a few years longer, and Astroscale, recently awarded a $25.5 million U.S. Space Force contract for building a refueling vehicle.
However, Dissanayake is optimistic about Spaceium’s edge— its ability to store fuel for elongated durations—an unprecedented feature. Though decline sharing detailed insights, Dissanayake envisions Spaceium’s stations dotted against the backdrop of deep space.
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