Reston, VA, (August 24, 2023) - SCOUT Space Inc., a space technology company dedicated to enabling a new era of space safety and transparency and leading in-space observation data provider, today announced the acquisition of Free Space Inc. to strengthen SCOUT’s defense and technical capabilities and broaden the inroads SCOUT has built with the U.S. Department of Defense, intelligence community, and civil government.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“This acquisition is the result of SCOUT’s business plan to strengthen the company by expanding our defense and technical capabilities with strategic acquisitions,” said Eric Ingram, CEO of SCOUT Space. “With a high market demand for our on-orbit services and mission augmentation capabilities, this acquisition uniquely positions SCOUT to respond immediately to our government customers’ needs. We look forward to welcoming this team into our incredible SCOUT family!”
Free Space was founded in January 2022 by Gil Valdes and Vin Bisceglia to build new space domain awareness and space security solutions for the U.S. Government, its allies, and aligned commercial satellite operators. During their six years working in the space industry, they recognized that the space domain was rapidly becoming a less permissive and more contested environment in which critical satellite constellations were regularly under threat from hostile actors. Because of these growing threats, they founded Free Space – joined by a team of scrappy engineers and advisors – to ensure all aligned spacecraft could operate, navigate, and communicate freely.
The Free Space team developed the Guardian Satellite and Trellis satellite autonomy software concepts, which will eventually serve as critical new space security infrastructure. Since the Company’s inception, Free Space secured over $1.5 million of U.S. Space Force contracts to develop this technology, with strong backing from critical U.S. Government agencies.
Vin Bisceglia, previously the Executive Chairman of Free Space, has taken on the role of Vice President of Growth at SCOUT. He added, “We are thrilled to announce the beginning of an extraordinary journey as Free Space joins forces with the fabulous team at SCOUT. Today, we embark on a new chapter together that will shape the future of space domain awareness and advanced satellite technology to another level. As we combine our expertise, resources and visionary spirit, we are poised to accelerate disruptive new solutions that will usher in a new era of vision-based autonomy and SDA solutions. We are looking forward to expanding this amazing frontier together.”
Gil Valdes, previously the Chief Executive Officer of Free Space, has taken on the role of Vice President of Government Programs at SCOUT. He added, “Free Space is thrilled to join forces with SCOUT in this mission to deliver groundbreaking space domain awareness and security solutions for government and commercial space operators. Through this business combination, we bring the grit, talent, and capital needed to deliver the space security infrastructure that our military, civil, and commercial space customers require, and on a much more rapid timeline. Vin and I look forward to working with SCOUT’s founders, Eric and Sergio, and their stellar team to build the go-to space security and safety company at SCOUT.”
In July of this year, SCOUT announced it had successfully completed an oversubscribed Seed round led by Decisive Point, with majority investment by Noblis Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Noblis, and with participation from Fusion Fund, Techstars, and VIPC.
About SCOUT Space:
SCOUT Space was founded in 2019 with the mission to enable a new era of space safety and transparency. SCOUT’s in-space products and services, first launched in June 2021, allow spacecraft to see and understand things around them. The orbital distributed sensor network developed by SCOUT will significantly improve Space Domain Awareness (SDA) and ensure responsible use of the space environment. The company is a Techstars, MassChallenge, and venture-backed startup with ongoing government and commercial contracts. SCOUT holds the Established® 2021 Startup of the Year® title. For more information, visit www.scout.space.
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