CategorySpace
Overview
Space-based solar power company founded by Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt. Building LEO satellites to collect solar Energy and beam it to Earth via infrared lasers. HQ San Carlos, CA.
USD 60M total funding including USD 50M Series A (Apr 2025) led by Index Ventures. DoD OECIF funding for power transmission proof-of-concept. First space demo in early 2026. Galactic Brain orbital data center project targeting Q1 2027.
Reality check
Series B and rebrand (company-claimed)
Raised $275M at a $2B valuation led by Index Ventures and is rebranding to Cowboy Space Corporation.
Timeline (company-claimed)
First satellite planned this year for a power-beaming demo; first rocket no earlier than end of 2028.
Orbital data center stage (company-claimed)
The upper stage stays in orbit as a megawatt-class data center, 132 m by 73 m deployed, carrying five racks of NVIDIA Vera Rubin GPUs.
Launch timeline (company-claimed, Oct 2026)
First Big Iron flight targeted for 2028. Reason-1 launched Oct 1 2026 to test laser power beaming; Reason-2 in 2027 is to run GPUs in orbit.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- None on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Key facts
Founder background
Total fundingsee investors →
Series B investors (reported, May 2026)
Original business
Pivot (reported, May 2026)
Big Iron rocket (company-stated, Oct 2026)
Stampede constellation filing (company-stated)
Big Iron Express (company-stated, Oct 2026)
Data & sources
Web sources
4
4 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Aetherflux on the deployment map
View the global mapAetherflux has no verified deployments on the DEPLOY registry yet. Explore the deployment map by place and type.
No verified deployments for Aetherflux on the DEPLOY record yet. Track Aetherflux to know the moment the first one is verified.
Current leadership (1)
- Baiju Bhatt CEO & Foundersecondary-verified
Founders (1)
Safety record
No incidents on record for Aetherflux.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Recent coverage
Aetherflux in third-party press
Peers
56 peers across 1 segment. Every Aetherflux competitor derived from shared form-factor and application-domain edges.
space(56)
36 companies in this segment · low_concentration (HHI 1188.742650389188) · leader K2 Space at 2172%
- Agile Space Industriesdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Airbusdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Albedo Spacedirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Astrobotic Technologydirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Astroscaledirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Boeingdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
Mentioned on (1)
Registry pages whose text names Aetherflux.
People (1)
Financial state
- Total funding
- $50.0M
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Funding rounds (1)
- Series A2025-04-01
$50M(reported)
Timeline
Every recorded move in Aetherflux’s history, most recent first: funding rounds, partnerships, acquisitions, supply-chain starts, key hires, and press.
Funding roundSeries A funding round
2025-04-01Series A raising $50000000
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Record createdAug 8, 2026
Added to the verified registry
Sources (4)
- https://payloadspace.com/aetherflux-rebrands-pivots-business-and-raises-275m/
- https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261026770279/en/Cowboy-Space-Reveals-Big-Iron-Its-Data-Center-Rocket-and-Opens-Commercial-Launch-to-Government-and-Third-Party-Payloads · 2026-10-27
- https://payloadspace.com/cowboy-space-reveals-big-iron-data-center-rocket/ · 2026-10-27
- https://www.cowboyspace.com/ · 2026-10-27
Common questions
What is Aetherflux?
What does Aetherflux make?
Is Aetherflux publicly traded?
Who competes with Aetherflux?
Who is the CEO of Aetherflux?
How can I invest in Aetherflux?
Where is Aetherflux headquartered?
How much funding has Aetherflux raised?
Who owns Aetherflux?
Where does Aetherflux operate robots?
Is Aetherflux a top robotics company?
When was Aetherflux founded?
Is Aetherflux safe?
Methodology: Verified · 4 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-10-27
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-10-27
Sources by quality tier
- 4
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Aetherflux.Peer companies
- Impulse Space6 models
- AstroForge3 models
- Astrobotic Technology3 models
- Blackswan Space3 models
- China National Space Administration3 models
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory3 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Aetherflux from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Rocket Report: Winter is coming for Themis; Cowboy Space adds iron to the fire
Cowboy Space Names Rocket ‘Big Iron,’ Targets 2028 Debut
Cowboy Space set out bold development plans to develop its own rocket, targeting a 2028 debut. Cowboy Space announced the name “Big Iron” and more details about the rocket late…
Cowboy Space Reveals Big Iron Data Center Rocket
Cowboy Space pulled back the curtain on Big Iron—a launch vehicle whose upper stage is designed to remain in orbit as a megawatt-class data center. The post Cowboy Space Reveals…
Robinhood Co-Founder Debuts Space Solar Startup Aetherflux
Baiju Bhatt, co-founder of Robinhood, launched Aetherflux to develop space-based solar power satellites. USD 10M personal investment. Satellite bus purchased from Apex. First demo…
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/aetherflux.md
- RSS feed: /companies/aetherflux/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/fcdb7390-4826-4bb9-a8e0-5bde1f624be5
- Revision history: /companies/aetherflux/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Impulse Space6 models
- AstroForge3 models
- Astrobotic Technology3 models
- Blackswan Space3 models
- China National Space Administration3 models
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory3 models
Video
Match Timestamps: 00:00 Deck Tech 00:00 Round 1 37:28 Round 2 49:59 Round 3 1:04:36 Round 4 1:18:46 Round 5 Decklist: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/EsOymGs2Jkeo4nz1nXEncQ 7 Plains 2 Aetherflux Reservoir 4 Field of R
Hello my fiery friends! The Infernoman here with our latest deck tech and gameplay! Is Aetherflux Reservoir colorless combo at 12 rares TOO JANK!? Watch and fin
Robôs Criando Energia Solar no Espaço e na Terra https://hotm.art/dsPzn8H 🔗Acesse o link👆 E Tenha o seu "CURSO COMPLETO" - JÁ COLOQUE EM PRÁTICA! https://me
Standard League using UW Aetherflux Combo. Deck list: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/uw-aether-combo/
A deep dive into the AetherFlux Glider, a groundbreaking aerial ground robot. Explore its capabilities, tests, and expert insights shaping the future of integra
#actualplay #dnd5e #oddlot #abovevtt Inside the giant robot, the Hunters face Alpha Squad again--and the insane mind of the robot itself! Visit my author's pa
#actualplay #dnd5e #oddlot #abovevtt Inside the giant robot, the Hunters face Alpha Squad again--and the insane mind of the robot itself! Visit my author's pa
Aurora Innovation Debuts First Commercial Self-Driving Truck Service on U.S. Roads The billionaire building space lasers to power Earth AI Robot by Leapting I
Heat Index
Category contender75/100
A composite of competitive footprint, funding, press velocity, active partnerships, and supply-chain edges. Different from the Intelligence score below (which is per-form-factor productization). Non-robotics companies cap at 25.
Reality vs attention
Aetherflux draws attention at the 77th percentile but verifies reality at the insufficient-data level among space robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Funding runway warrants monitoring: last known round 19 months ago.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Nov 6, 2026