Foundational raises £8.2 million pre-seed to commercialize satellite Laser Ranging. The London-based startup plans to expand its ground-station network, manufacture space hardware and develop a data platform for satellite tracking. Prefer on Google Discover more advertisements Earn a CS Degree Store Big Data London-based space technology startup Foundational has raised £8.2 million in pre-seed funding to develop a commercial satellite laser ranging service and expand the infrastructure required to track objects in orbit. The round was backed by Inflection, BACKED, Final Frontier, Adjacent and Type One Ventures. Foundational said it will use the funding to build additional ground stations, manufacture space hardware in-house, increase production of retroreflectors and develop a data platform. The company describes the financing as the largest space-tech pre-seed round in Europe. Developing commercial satellite tracking. Foundational is working to commercialize satellite laser ranging, a technique that uses laser pulses to measure the distance between a ground station and a satellite equipped with a retroreflector. The company says the technology can measure satellite positions with millimetre-level precision. It compares the accuracy to being able to determine from London whether a car in Edinburgh has moved forward by approximately the width of a pencil. Hira Virdee, CEO and co-founder of Foundational, said satellite infrastructure supports a range of everyday services, while the technology used to track satellites has not developed at the same pace as the wider space sector. "Every time you tap your card, check your map or make a phone call, you're relying on satellite infrastructure - but the technology we use to track exactly where satellites are hasn't kept up with the explosion of the space economy." The company plans to use the new capital to expand its ground infrastructure and increase the availability of hardware used in satellite laser ranging. Foundational's links to Lumi Space. Foundational's development follows earlier work by Virdee in satellite laser ranging. Virdee completed a PhD in astrodynamics at University College London through a programme funded by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. In 2018, he founded Lumi Space with support from the European Space Agency and the UK Space Agency. Track Investments According to Crunchbase, Lumi Space has received funding from grant organizations and accelerator programs, including the European Innovation Council and Creative Destruction Lab. Dave Gooding, co-founder and chief technology officer of Foundational, has collaborated with Virdee on research into laser ranging since 2022. Their most recent paper was published in 2025 under the Lumi Space name. Foundational Limited was incorporated in 2025, while Lumi Space Limited continues to operate. Virdee is a director of both companies. Satellite tracking and orbital debris. The expansion of satellite tracking infrastructure comes as the number of objects in orbit continues to increase. The European Space Agency's 2026 space environment assessment reported 44,964 tracked objects at the end of 2025. More than 300 launches during 2025 added approximately 4,000 payloads, according to the report. ESA's modelling also projected that the orbital population of objects larger than 10 centimetres would reach 68,450 by February 2026. The estimate included approximately 11,300 active payloads and around 1.5 million pieces of debris between 1 and 10 centimetres. Foundational says debris within this size range can pose a risk to operational satellites. The company argues that satellite laser ranging could provide more precise measurements of orbital objects, although the technology has historically been constrained by the cost and complexity of deploying it at scale. "Satellite Laser Ranging is the gold standard, and is one of the most precise measurement tools humanity has built, capable of pinpointing a satellite to within millimetres, but until now it's been too costly and too complex to use at scale," said Virdee. Foundational's funding will therefore support both the physical infrastructure and software needed for its proposed commercial service, including additional ground stations, space hardware production, retroreflectors and the company's data platform. Track Investments

Foundational develops technology that combines satellite-mounted retroreflectors, automated ground stations and software to collect, process and deliver precise positioning data for satellite applications.