In a nutshell

• Czech-based SpaceTech startup Zaitra has raised €1.7M in a funding round, led by Berlin-based fund Sunfish Partners.
• Czech Founders VC and angel investor Jan Široký, former CTO of Czech unicorn Mews also participated, together raising €700K.

Zaitra secures €1.7M in funding to drive satellite autonomy solutions

Zaitra specializes in developing solutions for satellite autonomy. It aims to support both institutional and private customers from the space industry. Not only does it help with solving complex satellite operations but also helps them reduce communication costs. The company is already assisting human satellite operators by using AI-powered filtering to provide more relevant data from orbit.

Czech spacetech startup founded in 2020 is engaged in multiple commercial projects. For example, the team already works with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the International Space Station (ISS). The efforts resulted in a pre-seed funding round. Led by the Berlin-based fund Sunfish Partners, with participation from Czech Founders VC and angel investor Jan Široký, the former CTO of Czech unicorn Mews, Zaitra raised a total of €700K.

“With the rapid increase in satellite launches and the projected growth of the global satellite industry, Zaitra’s technology is uniquely positioned to address the emerging challenges in this evolving market. Zaitra’s innovative edge-AI solutions are set to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of space infrastructure. And we want to be there,” shared Max Moldenhauer, partner of the German fund Sunfish Partners leading the investment round. 

The total funding of €1.7M was completed with public contributions, primarily from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TACR).

Aiming for fully autonomous space systems

According to their information, Zaitra was one of the first companies to successfully deploy AI in operational nanosatellites.

“The vast majority of the technology we send into space today is dependent on human operators. To give you an idea, one operator today has to operate units of up to dozens of satellites. Our ambition is that he can essentially just supervise their operation and thus control up to an order of magnitude more. Artificial intelligence enables these devices to become fully autonomous, to collect and send the most relevant data, to move in such a way as to avoid collisions and to choose the ideal trajectory. However, such use may not only apply to satellites, but also to rovers exploring the surface of Mars or even the ISS,” explained Marek Marušin, co-founder and CEO of Zaitra.