Mantis Space Emerges from Stealth with $10M Seed Round

Mantis Space has exited stealth with an oversubscribed seed round of more than $10 million to develop an orbital power infrastructure designed to eliminate satellites’ dependence on direct sunlight.

The funding round was led by Rule 1 Ventures with participation from Montauk Capital, which incubated the company. The capital will support hiring and go-to-market expansion from Mantis Space’s headquarters in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Led by CEO 🛰️Eric Truitt, a founder of Terran Orbital and former executive at BlueHalo, the company is developing a constellation of spacecraft designed to remain almost continuously in sunlight and beam power to satellites operating in Earth’s shadow.

The system would allow satellites to use their existing solar arrays to draw power in real time regardless of orbital position. By decoupling power availability from sunlight exposure, Mantis Space aims to enable operators to optimize orbital placement for mission performance rather than energy constraints.

Today, satellites can spend roughly one-third of their time in eclipse and are often placed in sun-synchronous orbits to maximize solar exposure. According to the company, its infrastructure could significantly improve satellite utilization and extend asset lifetimes, potentially increasing economic returns by two to three times.

Investors and advisors see orbital power as a critical infrastructure layer for the next phase of the space economy, supporting emerging applications such as orbital data centers, edge computing, persistent intelligence platforms, and space-based AI infrastructure.

Advisors including James Winnefeld of Rule 1 Ventures and Philip Krim argue that shared, high-density power in orbit could become foundational for scaling future commercial and defense space systems.

Image Credits: Mantis Space