Albedo
Designs and manufactures flight-proven Very Low Earth Orbit satellite buses for defense, communications, and specialized payload operators
Albedo designs and manufactures Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) satellite buses at its facility in Broomfield, Colorado. Founded in 2020 through Y Combinator, the company developed and launched Clarity-1 in March 2025 on SpaceX Transporter-13, becoming the first commercial operator to sustain satellite operations in VLEO. The 530 kg satellite demonstrated 10 cm visible and 2 m thermal infrared ground sample distance from approximately 320 km altitude, with drag performance 12% better than design targets.
Following the success of Clarity-1, Albedo pivoted in October 2025 from commercial imagery sales to focus exclusively on producing VLEO satellite buses for defense, communications, and other payload operators. The company holds contracts with the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, and the Missile Defense Agency. Albedo has raised $193 million across four funding rounds and plans to scale production to hundreds of satellites per year.
Operates a satellite-as-a-service platform that integrates, deploys, and operates customer payloads and AI applications on standardized LEO spacecraft
Operates orbital transfer vehicles for last-mile satellite delivery, hosted payload services, space cloud computing, and in-orbit servicing
