Fortastra Lands $30M Series A to Build Armed Defensive Spacecraft for US Military

Fortastra, a California startup building orbital-defense spacecraft, announced a $30 million Series A to fund its next-generation vehicle and meet growing government demand for space-based security systems. The raise lands as the US military expands its arsenal in orbit and treats space security as a top priority.

The round closed largely before Air Force Secretary Troy Meink publicly revealed the existence of US space weapons last month. VP of Product Sahil Desai said those comments should ease the financial pathways for Fortastra to build capability for the US military. "The fact that it's coming out in the open, and the government is feeling more willing to talk about [space weapons], helps us as a commercial business, and as a startup, be able to operate," Desai said, adding that it signals to investors and the company that they are working on the right problems.

First In led the round, with participation from Upfront, Space Capital, Rsquared, Side Door Ventures, and ATX Ventures, as well as other new and existing investors. Since its founding in 2025, Fortastra has launched two demonstration missions to validate its capabilities on orbit, including one satellite flown on SpaceX's Transporter-18 this month. The next spacecraft, which Desai said could launch as early as Q1 2028, will be much closer to the final product.

Desai declined to detail the spacecraft's capabilities but said the goal is to give troops multiple options when dealing with adversarial satellites, rather than solely building highly escalatory systems that threaten the safety of other satellites. "If you're going to build a defensive capability, you can't just have cameras," Desai said. "You need to have the ability to deter, or ideally prevent, any further action from an adversary threat on orbit." He said payload and effector capability is a front-and-center component of the design, alongside the ability to move. Fortastra spacecraft will carry sensors to determine position relative to friendly and adversarial assets, robust propulsion to maneuver on orbit, capabilities to act against encroaching threats, and onboard autonomy to increase responsiveness.

Desai framed the space-warfare domain as relatively nascent, comparing it to dogfighting, with the US government building a mix of high-impact exquisite systems and low-cost commercial solutions. He likened the approach to the roles drones and autonomous systems play in the air and sea domains. The company plans to use its Series A funds to grow its engineering team and expand production capacity to meet the large-scale orders it expects from the Department of Defense.

Fortastra's short-term goal is to launch about one spacecraft per year, but the long-term vision is far larger. "Long term for the business [is] hundreds of spacecraft a year, potentially thousands," Desai said. "Why do we need 1,000 security drones in orbit? It's because that's how quickly the threats are growing."

The company plans to ramp production cadence considerably over time and expects demand to scale with the pace of emerging threats in orbit. Its next spacecraft is targeted for launch as early as the first quarter of 2028.