Scout Space Inc.
Established in 2019 and headquartered out of Reston, Virginia, Scout Space Inc. is a leading in-space observation service provider focused on space security and comprehensive Space Domain Awareness (SDA). Scout’s in-space products and services, first launched in 2021, allow spacecraft to see and understand things around them while on orbit.
Meet the Leadership
Chief Executive Officer
Philip Hover-Smoot
A long-time aerospace and defense executive and seasoned industry attorney. Previous to Scout, Philip served as the General Counsel at Spaceflight Inc., a group company of Mitsui & Co. Ltd., Deputy General Counsel and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer at Momentus Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTS), and held a series of roles at Raytheon Technologies, primarily in the Office of General Counsel at Raytheon Technologies’ Intelligence & Space business, where he held key advisory roles in technology security and contracting with a focus on remote sensing and electronic warfare systems. Philip holds a JD/MBA from Drake University and has completed postdoctoral work at Stanford’s Spogli Institute for International Security Studies, with an emphasis on national security and intelligence.
Chief Operating Officer
Scott Nelson
A former Wall Street trader and analyst at Morgan Stanley with a background in building and managing complex software for financial institutions, Scott brings a breadth of experience to Scout’s leadership team ranging from finance, software development, product, to operations. Scott holds a BSc in Finance from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
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Chief Technology Officer
Josiah Gruber
Bringing over 15 years of engineering expertise in optical and RF sensing to Scout Space, Josiah began his career at Logos Technologies, developing EO, IR, and hyperspectral camera systems. Later, at Aurora Insight, he led the production of wideband RF sensors and oversaw the launch and operation of three satellite payloads. Josiah holds a B.S. from Syracuse University and an M.S. from Dartmouth College's Thayer School of Engineering.
Technical Leads
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Our History
2019
Scout Space founded
2020
Selected as MassChallenge Gold 2020 winner
2021
First SCOUT-Vision system deployed on June 30, 2021 onboard the Orbit Fab Tenzing-001 tanker
Customer contract signed with Momentus to support multi proximity operations missions
Selected by Hyperspace Challenge Accelerator
Awarded AFWERX SBIR to revolutionize space domain awareness (SDA)
Selected to participate in Techstars Space Accelerator program
2022
Unveiled autonomy software suite for spacecraft
Awarded the 2021 "Startup of the Year" during the 9th annual Startup of the Year Summit
Successfully completes Bridge round
Agreement signed with USSPACECOM to share space situational awareness services, data
Awarded NASA SBIR for development of autonomous relative navigation systems
Awarded Phase II SBIR contract through AFWERX, the Technology Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the innovation arm of the Department Air Force to advance space domain awareness (SDA)
Selected through the Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC) for the Tetra-5 contract, with the Space Systems Command and Air Force Research Laboratory as customers - on a team led by Orion Space Solutions
Awarded two STTR awards through the Orbital Prime program by SpaceWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Space Force, in collaboration with the Stanford University Space Rendezvous Laboratory (SLAB) and the Florida Institute of Technology ORION Lab
International partnerships formed to advance space domain awareness (SDA)
2023
Over-subscribed Seed round successfully completed
Selected by SpaceWERX for a Phase II STTR, focused on “Robust Cross-Domain Optical Navigation with Space-Based Sensors”
Acquired Free Space Inc. to strengthen defense and technical capabilities
Selected by AFWERX for a Phase II SBIR, focused on developing a flight software suite for critical space missions with autonomous sensor-driven multi-agent guidance and navigation capabilities
Selected as a subcontractor by Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), the R&D arm of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, in support of the SINTRA (Space Debris Identification and Tracking) program
Awarded DARPA LunA-10 contract study as a sub on a group led by Crescent Space Services, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin
Awarded $1.8M AFWERX Phase II Contract to Develop Dual-Use SDA Sensor Payload (TacRS)
2024
Philip Hover-Smoot named CEO
Unveiled Owl product line of advanced long-range vision payload systems
Awarded AFWERX Phase I SBIR to develop efficient Collision Analysis Framework, advancing real-time spacecraft self-protection capabilities with autonomy
On May 30, 2024 ( 6:25 GMT) Scout's Sparrow optical payload, launched aboard the Apex Aries bus on the SpaceX Transporter-10 mission in March 2024, successfully completed commissioning and captured its "first light" in-space calibration image
Launch Service Agreement (LSA) signed with ABL Space Systems for first standalone operational Space Domain Awareness Satellite scheduled for launch in late 2024
Selected to join DARPA’s BRIDGES Consortium for Space Superiority to advance autonomous in-space threat response for space superiority
Selected to participate in the U.S. Space System Command's Space Domain Awareness TAP Lab Accelerator to enhance satellite attitude change detection
Selected to join NATO's SPACENET program to advance space security and innovation
SpaceSight™ by Scout Space now available on Saber Astronautics’ Space Application Marketplace (SAM), a tool for the space community to virtualize in-space observations
Contract signed to fly novel vLEO SDA sensors on Dawn Aerospace's taskable spaceplane to demonstrate responsive vLEO Space Domain Awareness (SDA) capabilities
Our Team
Operating in Space Since 2021
Since June of 2021, Scout has been successfully operating in space, following the launch of our Sparrow (the production version of Scout’s Scout-Vision system) proximity operation systems.
In the Press
