Nearly two weeks after IEEE Spectrum broke the news that Swarm Technologies had carried out the first ever unauthorized satellite launch, mystery surrounds the company’s reasons for doing so. And uncertainty clouds the air around it because it’s not clear what the consequences for the stealthy startup might be.

The future is almost here. By 2025, satellites the size of shoeboxes will provide high-speed internet for every single one of the world’s 7.6 billion people. Governments and people will have hack-proof communications thanks to “quantum entanglement” — a phenomenon that renowned physicist Albert Einstein described as “spooky action at a distance.”

LeoLabs announced it is teaming with Planet to help protect satellites and keep space navigable for future generations of entrepreneurs. In a paper to be published at The Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies (AMOS) conference, LeoLabs and Planet will demonstrate a flight system that uses commercial data sources to enhance collision risk assessment and enable safer debris avoidance maneuvers for satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Planet and LeoLabs, the Silicon Valley startup building a network of radars to track objects in low Earth orbit, are working together to demonstrate how satellite operators can use commercial tracking data to prevent collisions.

Leolabs has already begun to talk to potential customers about its debris tracking services. According to founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Daniel Ceperley, the Silicon Valley start-up is executing on customer engagement after the official ribbon cutting ceremony of its Midland Space Radar (MSR) facility this week.

MIDLAND, TX (MDC PR) — The Midland Development Corporation (MDC) and LeoLabs, Inc., celebrate the completion of the Midland Space Radar facility with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Construction of the Midland Space Radar began in September 2016 and was completed in February 2017.

What started several years ago as a prototype made of PVC pipe and chicken wire has become reality, thanks to a bit of help from the Midland Development Corp. and the city of Midland. A small ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Tuesday at the MDC offices to officially celebrate the completion of LeoLabs’ Midland Space Radar, located on city-owned property in Winkler County known as the T-Bar Ranch.

The UAE’s space sector is a key plank for its economic development and the growing amount of space junk orbiting the planet is an issue the country is well aware of. While the recent hit US film Gravity referenced it, albeit dramatically, the space surrounding our home planet is a floating junkyard where debris abounds, moving at fantastic speeds with colossal destructive energy.

The Star Wars saga painted a sensational picture of outer space. But the truth is, there are a myriad of debris floating around out there — 13,000 pieces to be exact — that pose a danger to the 500 or so satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). LeoLabs, a spin-out of SRI International, announced today a seed round of $4 million for its technology to better track this debris.

MENLO PARK, CA — With $4 million in the bank and two radars tracking satellites and debris in low Earth orbit, Silicon Valley startup LeoLabs is now open for business. LeoLabs began operating a phased-array radar in Midland, Texas, in February.