Cascade Space has raised $5.9 million in seed funding to further develop its end-to-end software platform for spacecraft communications. The round saw participation from a wide range of investors, including Nova Threshold, Undeterred Capital, Y Combinator, Night Capital, Olive Capital, Valkyrie Ventures, Karman Ventures, Palm Drive Capital, Garage Capital, TRAC, Aurelia Foundry, Hawktail, MGV.VC, Pioneer Fund, and Liquid 2 Ventures.
Designing, testing, and operating space communication systems is often one of the most challenging—and time-consuming—parts of satellite development, especially for missions targeting lunar or deep space environments. Cascade aims to change that by offering a unified platform that streamlines the entire process.
“Our mission at Cascade Space is to provide tools and infrastructure for spacecraft communication system design, test, and operations that will allow our customers to ship faster with the highest levels of mission assurance,” said Jacob Portukalian, co-founder and CEO of Cascade.
The space tech landscape is growing rapidly, but many startups still face slowdowns due to fragmented or outdated communication workflows. With demand increasing for more flexible, modular solutions, Cascade sees an opportunity to standardize how space communication systems are built and deployed.
A key focus for the new funding is the Cascade Portal, the company’s software platform for satellite communication system design and analysis. Cascade recently released its spacelink Python library as open source—a toolkit of core functions used in the backend of its portal software.
With the new capital, Cascade also plans to bring on a small but experienced team of engineers, primarily to accelerate work on the Cascade Portal and support early customers.
The company is also looking ahead to future infrastructure goals, including the development of a network of large aperture ground stations, which would further support its vision of a complete communication platform for space missions.
Founded in 2025, Cascade Space is led by Jacob Portukalian and a team of engineers with experience at major space companies like SpaceX and Astra. The company was part of the Y Combinator X25 batch and has been quietly building since completing the program.
Cascade is carving out a niche by focusing exclusively on space communication—a segment that often doesn’t receive the same level of platform innovation as launch or satellite manufacturing.
Its combination of deep technical experience and specialized focus has helped attract a wide base of investors and partners early on.
The seed round drew interest from both generalist and space-focused investors. Backers include Nova Threshold, Undeterred Capital, Y Combinator, Night Capital, Olive Capital, Valkyrie Ventures, Karman Ventures, Palm Drive Capital, Garage Capital, TRAC, Aurelia Foundry, Hawktail, MGV.VC, Pioneer Fund, and Liquid 2 Ventures.
Many of these firms have backed technical teams in deep tech, SaaS infrastructure, or aerospace sectors, bringing a mix of domain knowledge and startup experience to the table.
