Citra Space raises $15 million Series A to expand platform for identifying objects in orbit

COLORADO SPRINGS — Citra Space said it raised $15 million in a Series A funding round led by Washington Harbour Partners, as the Colorado-based startup looks to expand its software platform for identifying objects in orbit.

The round included participation from Industrious Ventures, Reliable Properties and existing investors including Scout VC, Squadra Ventures, Alumni Ventures and Flex Capital.

Founded in 2024 by former U.S. Space Force and Air Force officers, Citra focuses on space domain awareness: determining what objects in orbit are and what they are doing. The company is developing software that combines data from multiple sources to build profiles of satellites and other objects over time for military and commercial users.

Tracking objects in orbit has improved in recent years as governments and private companies deploy more sensors. But identifying those objects and understanding their behavior remains a gap.

There are more than 35,000 tracked objects in orbit, supporting civil, commercial and national security missions. For roughly 10,000 of them, operators still lack sufficient context about their purpose or capabilities, according to the company.

“Operators today can see more objects in orbit than ever before, but understanding what those objects are and what they’re doing is still a major challenge,” co-founder and chief executive Tom Nichols said. He added that the funding will be used to accelerate product development aimed at extracting more insight from existing data.

Citra’s approach merges observations from space- and ground-based sensors to create persistent “fingerprints” of objects, allowing operators to monitor changes in behavior over time through a single interface.

Satellite operators and governments are placing greater emphasis on monitoring activity in orbit, the company said, including close approaches and other maneuvers that can signal potential threats.

“Characterization is one of the least developed pieces of space domain awareness,” said Mina Faltas, founder and chief investment officer of Washington Harbour Partners. “By understanding what objects in space are, how they behave and why, Citra is bringing mission-critical knowledge to operators.”

Washington Harbour Partners’ backing of Citra Space marks the latest in a series of investments by the firm in defense-focused space companies.