Foundational
Invested in 2026
The Positioning Layer For Orbit
Founded in 2025 by Hira Virdee, who researched space debris at UCL, and Dave Gooding, an Oxford astrophysicist who has designed space optical systems for a decade, Foundational was built to take laser ranging out of the lab and into commercial service. Low Earth Orbit is filling with satellites and debris, while the measurement infrastructure beneath it is ageing and, according to a 2024 UN report, "perilously close to collapse". Foundational automates Satellite Laser Ranging, one of the most precise ways to locate an object in orbit, and scales it into a network of satellite-mounted retroreflectors, eye-safe ground stations and a data platform. It is already operational, with 16 retroreflectors in orbit.
1.5M
Estimated pieces of debris between 1cm and 10cm in orbit, each large enough to break up an operational satellite. Operators need to know where objects are with ever greater precision.
10–30x
Cheaper than legacy laser-ranging stations, which cost millions to build and need specialist crews to run. Foundational's are fully automated and weatherproof.
16
Retroreflectors already in orbit across three product lines, with 60 more awaiting launch and hundreds more in discussion with prospective customers.
2000km
Up to distance from which Foundational's network already tracks objects with millimetre-level precision, day and night.
MISSION: Turn Satellite Laser Ranging from a specialist scientific tool into the positioning network the future space economy runs on.
Legacy laser-ranging stations are often old and expensive, and can be forced to stop when aircraft pass overhead, confining the technology to a handful of scientific and government facilities just as operators, insurers and governments need continuous, precise positioning data.
Foundational brings the whole system into one platform: retroreflectors on satellites, eye-safe ground stations that can operate around air traffic, and software that delivers the data. Early customers are being onboarded through an API, and the data supports collision alerts, safer manoeuvres, and insurance and regulatory requirements. With £8.2M raised, the company will expand its ground-station network and scale retroreflector production, laying the groundwork for new geodetic products for navigation, Earth observation and critical infrastructure.
