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美国天基遥感初创公司 Kapta Space 近日宣布完成 2400 万美元 A 轮融资,公司自 2022 年成立以来的累计融资额达到 3000 万美元。本轮融资由 Washington Harbour Partners 和 Bison Ventures 领投,MetaVC Partners、MYDA Advisors、Entrada Ventures、Aurelia Foundry 及 Fitz Gate Ventures 等机构跟投。这家总部位于西雅图的公司正在开发下一代天基动目标指示(MTI)雷达载荷,目标是解决美国政府在轨道雷达能力上长期面临的高成本困局。
电子扫描新架构:挑战有源相控阵的成本经济学
Kapta 的技术路线聚焦于一种全新思路的电子扫描架构。按照设计目标,该雷达载荷能够在保持宽视场覆盖的同时,对陆地、空中和海上的移动目标实施持续跟踪,而其成本、功耗和系统复杂度均显著低于传统有源电子扫描阵列(AESA)。这一架构使载荷有望在中段飞行阶段对导弹实施跟踪——此前导弹在这一阶段曾多次成功规避地基雷达的探测。
模块化是该设计的另一亮点。即便是缩配版本,Kapta 的雷达载荷也能为希望以更小外形尺寸搭载简化雷达技术的卫星运营商提供合成孔径雷达(SAR)能力。CEO Milton Perque 表示,公司正在执行两项高规格演示任务,这些任务将为未来大规模部署的 MTI 任务奠定基础,飞行履历预计将在 24 至 36 个月内建立。
【关键数据】
- A 轮融资: 2400 万美元(Washington Harbour Partners 与 Bison Ventures 领投)
- 累计融资: 3000 万美元
- 成立时间: 2022 年
- 飞行履历周期: 24-36 个月(两项演示任务执行中)
- 技术定位: 成本/功耗/复杂度低于有源相控阵的 MTI 雷达载荷
天基雷达的“规模化”命题
近年来,美国政府持续加大天基情报、监视与侦察(ISR)能力投入,从 SAR、光学、热红外到高光谱等多个谱段的商业遥感运营商采购数据和服务。但 Kapta 所构建的能力,超出了政府现有能力体系的范围。Perque 指出,美国政府“几十年来”一直试图将雷达能力搬上轨道,但成本和复杂度始终是难以逾越的门槛。
“历史上,天基雷达极其昂贵,这使我们无法将雷达卫星规模化部署到 MTI 系统作战概念所要求的数百颗甚至数千颗的量级。”Perque 表示,“我们拥有自主知识产权保护的专有架构,它改变了天基雷达的经济学和可扩展性。”新注入的资金将用于支持 Kapta 低成本 MTI 雷达载荷的量产,服务于公司今年获得的机密级 MTI 任务。
需要关注的是,尽管 Kapta 的能力看似与“金穹”(Golden Dome)导弹防御体系高度契合,Perque 强调公司项目早于该提案提出,并且“超越了”这一导弹防御盾牌本身。中段导弹跟踪所要求的大范围、持续监视能力,本质上是天基雷达规模化部署问题,这与单一星座项目的需求存在交集,但又不完全重合。
商业遥感格局的新变量
从产业视角看,Kapta 的融资折射出商业航天赛道的一个明确信号:资本正在从传统的对地观测数据服务,向具备国防战略价值的尖端传感器载荷延伸。如果其专有架构能够在未来两到三年内通过飞行验证兑现成本承诺,天基 MTI 将从“少数巨型星座的专利”转变为可批量部署的商品化能力,这不仅可能改变美国导弹防御的传感器体系设计,也将为卫星运营商提供差异化的 SAR 载荷选型路径。这一进程的实际进展,值得持续追踪。
出处:Exclusive: Kapta Space Raises $24M Series A to Build Moving Target Radar Payload
英文原文Kapta Space, a Seattle, WA-based startup building next-gen radar payloads designed to track moving targets, today announced a $24M Series A—bringing the company’s total financing to $30M since its founding in 2022. Washington Harbour Partners and Bison Ventures led the round, which included participation from MetaVC Partners, MYDA Advisors, Entrada Ventures, Aurelia Foundry, and Fitz Gate Ventures. Eye on the ball: The new capital will fund the production of Kapta’s low-cost moving target indication (MTI) radar payloads in support of classified MTI missions the company secured this year. “We are executing on two …high-profile demo missions that will lead to highly proliferated MTI missions in the future,” CEO Milton Perque told Payload. “The flight heritage will come in the next 24 to 36 months.” The US government has invested heavily on increasing its space-based ISR capabilities, buying data and services from a range of EO operators across SAR, optical, thermal, and hyperspectral mediums. However, Kapta is building something outside of the government’s current capability set. Kapta’s radar payload is designed with a new take on electronic steering. The radar is expected to offer a wide view, while maintaining custody of a moving target across land, air, and sea—at significantly lower cost, power, and complexity compared to active electronically scanned arrays. The result is that Kapta’s expects its radar payload to be able to track missiles in the mid-course phase, where missiles have been known to evade ground-based radar sensors. Kapta’s radar is also designed to be modular, so even a scaled-down version could offer SAR capabilities to satellite operators looking to fly simpler radar tech in a smaller form factor. Over the dome: While the capability seems tailor-made to Golden Dome, Perque told Payload that Kapta’s program predates and “transcends” the proposed missile-defense shield. The US government has “for decades” tried to move its radar capabilities to orbit, but the costs and complexity involved have been—until now—prohibitive. “Historically, [space-based radar] has been extremely expensive, and so that has denied our ability to proliferate those into the hundreds or thousands that are required to meet the CONOPS of an MTI system,” Perque said. “We have our own IP-protected proprietary architecture that changes the economics and the scalability of spaceborne radar.” The post Exclusive: Kapta Space Raises $24M Series A to Build Moving Target Radar Payload appeared first on Payload .