Northwood Space Raises $100M Series B And Wins $50M Space Force Contract

Northwood Space Raises $100M Series B and wins a $50M U.S. Space Force Contract To Modernize Satellite Control Network

Northwood Space has secured a $100 million Series B funding round alongside a $49.8 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to upgrade the U.S. military’s Satellite Control Network (SCN).

The Series B was co-led by Washington Harbour Partners LP and Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Alpine Space Ventures, Founders Fund, StepStone Group, Balerion Space Ventures, Fulcrum Venture Group, Pax Ventures, 137 Ventures, and others. The raise comes less than a year after Northwood’s $30 million Series A.

Founded in El Segundo, California, Northwood is developing vertically integrated ground infrastructure designed to modernize how satellites communicate with Earth. 

Its core product, Portal, is a multi-beam phased-array antenna system intended to replace or supplement legacy dish-based ground stations.

The company has deployed operational Portal units on two continents and reports that one site was installed in 12 hours and operational the following day. Each Portal site currently supports up to eight satellite links, with next-generation systems expected to handle 10–12 links. 

By the end of the year, Northwood aims to produce more than a dozen arrays per month and deploy over 82 beams across 18 global sites. 

Longer term, the company expects its network to support communications with hundreds of satellites.

In parallel, Northwood secured a $49.8 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to support modernization of the Satellite Control Network, which provides telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) for Department of Defense satellites, including GPS. 

The company delivered communication links within three months of contract award, working with the U.S. Space Force’s Program Executive Office for Battle Management, Command, Control, Communications, and Space Intelligence (BMC3I).

The SCN has faced capacity constraints for over a decade, with prior government reports warning that increasing demand could compromise mission readiness. Northwood’s phased-array architecture is designed to expand capacity and improve responsiveness for both government and commercial operators, particularly as large satellite constellations scale across LEO, MEO, and GEO.

CEO Bridgit Mendler said the new capital will support infrastructure expansion and ensure the company can meet accelerating customer demand without resource constraints, marking what she described as an inflection point for the business.

Image Credits: Northwood Space