TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 Aalyria announced a $100 million funding round Feb. 23 that values the Californian venture at $1.3 billion, supporting deployment of laser terminals and software for dynamically routing data across space, air and ground networks.<\/p>\n
The funding follows growing demand for narrow, high-throughput directional links that can improve speed and security but also add operational complexity as motion, weather and other line-of-sight constraints risk disrupting connectivity.<\/p>\n
Aalyria, spun out of Google\u2019s parent Alphabet four years ago, says its Spacetime platform can coordinate those links in real time, allocating capacity and routing traffic as satellites, aircraft and ground terminals move. Spacetime is also designed to help multi-orbit networks respond more quickly to disruptions, such as shifting capacity toward areas where terrestrial infrastructure has been damaged.<\/p>\n
While Alphabet previously used the software for its scrapped Loon internet network of high-altitude balloons, Telesat\u2019s low Earth orbit (LEO) Lightspeed constellation, which the Canadian geostationary operator aims to roll out next year, is set to be the first to use Spacetime commercially.<\/p>\n
\u201cAalyria\u2019s orchestration and network-optimization technologies are a key performance and resiliency enabler for our Telesat Lightspeed architecture,\u201d Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg said in Aalyria\u2019s funding news release.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpacetime\u2019s dynamic routing, spectrum-aware resource management, and advanced link prediction capabilities will be integrated with our system design, strengthening end-to-end service delivery across our global LEO network.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. government has partnered to demonstrate Spacetime under the Defense Innovation Unit\u2019s hybrid space architecture initiative<\/a>. Aalyria has also established a European arm following a 2023 European Space Agency contract<\/a>.<\/p>\n In its funding announcement, Aalyria highlighted other previously disclosed Spacetime partnerships with Google Public Sector, NASA, Airbus, ALL.SPACE, Keysight Technologies and Logos Space.<\/p>\n Alongside Spacetime, the company said the funds will help expand deployment of its Tightbeam laser terminals, which also stem in part from Alphabet-era research.<\/p>\n Chris Taylor, Aalyria\u2019s founder and CEO, said Tightbeam is currently proven across ground-to-ground, air-to-ground and ground-to-air links, amid ongoing tests with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory to validate the technology for military applications.<\/p>\n \u201cOur plan is to take Tightbeam into space, developing optical ground terminals and space-to-ground terminals,\u201d he told SpaceNews via email, \u201cextending the platform into one of the most demanding and high-value connectivity environments in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n