CategorySpace
Overview
Los Angeles-based manufacturer of productized, configurable satellite bus platforms built at constellation scale. Founded in 2022 by Ian Cinnamon and Max Benassi, Apex operates Factory One in Playa Vista and produces off-the-shelf satellite buses including the Aries, GEO Aries, Nova, and Comet platforms. The company serves both commercial customers and U.S. government defense programs, with over two-thirds of its business in national security and defense. Apex set a world record with its first satellite bus as the fastest clean-sheet design to production spacecraft operating in space.
Reality check
Factory (company-claimed)
Factory One to exceed 100,000 sq ft by end of 2026.
Funding (company-claimed)
About $718M total.
Revenue (company-claimed, 2025)
$60M; $100M+ contracted bookings.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 1 deployment on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Valuation of record
DEPLOY VERIFIEDPriced roundStrategic Growth post-money
Key facts
Founded
Products
Valuation (reported, Jun 2026)
Employees (reported, May 2026)
CFO (reported, Jun 2026)
Data & sources
Web sources
2
2 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Partnerships
Every company Apex Space has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most-frequent partners
- 1Anduril Industries1× joint7 total
- 2Northrop Grumman1× joint1 total
Most recent
- Apex Space x Northrop Grumman2026-06-01with Northrop Grummanjust announced
- Apex Space x Anduril2024-01-01with Anduril Industriesoperating
Apex Space on the deployment map
View the global map1 verified deployment across 1 region, newest verified Mar 2024. Explore where Apex Space's robots are operating, by place and type.
View the full Apex Space deployment record →
Relationships
Current leadership (4)
- Ian Cinnamon Co-founder & CEO, Co-foundersecondary-verified
- Max Benassi Co-founder & CTO, Co-foundersecondary-verified
- Michael Kopet Chief Financial Officersecondary-verified
- Adam Corey Chief Business Officersecondary-verified
Founders (2)
- Max Benassicofounderno longer at company
- Ian Cinnamoncofounderno longer at company
Safety record
No incidents on record for Apex Space.
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 →
Operator customers (1)
- Apex Space1 deployment
Recent coverage
Apex Space in third-party press
Peer companies
- Impulse Space6 models
- AstroForge3 models
- Astrobotic Technology3 models
- Blackswan Space3 models
- China National Space Administration3 models
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory3 models
Mentioned on (4)
Registry pages whose text names Apex Space.
People (4)
Financial state
- Total funding
- $702.5M
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.
Partnerships
2 total · 1 operating · 1 just announced
Every company Apex Space has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most recent
- Apex Space x Northrop Grumman2026-06-01with Northrop Grummanjust announced
- Apex Space x Anduril2024-01-01with Anduril Industriesoperating
Most-frequent partners
- 1Anduril Industries1× joint7 total
- 2Northrop Grumman1× joint1 total
All 2 partnerships
open in the atlas →- technology2024-01-01operating
- development2026-06-01announcedjust announced
Funding rounds (5)
Apex Space’s 5 disclosed rounds, $703M in total, oldest to newest.
- Strategic Growth2026-06-05
$200M(reported) · $2.3B post
Investors: Glade Brook Capital Partners (lead), Washington Harbour Partners (follow)
- Series D2025-09-12
$200M(reported) · $1.0B post
Investors: Interlagos (lead)
- Series C2025-04-28
$200M(reported)
Investors: Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) (follow), Point72 Ventures (lead), 8VC (co_lead), Washington Harbour Partners (follow), StepStone Group (follow)
- Series B2024-06-12
$95M(reported)
- Seed2022-10-24
$8M(reported)
Investors: XYZ Venture Capital (follow), Lux Capital (follow), Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) (lead), Village Global (follow)
Timeline
Every recorded move in Apex Space’s history, most recent first: funding rounds, partnerships, acquisitions, supply-chain starts, key hires, and press.
Funding roundStrategic Growth funding round
2026-06-05Strategic Growth raising $200000000
PartnershipApex Space x Northrop Grumman
2026-06-01Apex teamed with Northrop Grumman to prototype technologies for space-based interceptors in support of the Golden Dome missile defense initiative. The collaboration targets space-based interceptor capabilities for 2027.
Funding roundSeries D funding round
2025-09-12Series D raising $200000000
Funding roundSeries C funding round
2025-04-28Series C raising $200000000
Funding roundSeries B funding round
2024-04-17Series B raising $95000000
PartnershipApex Space x Anduril
2024-01-01Apex partnered with Anduril Industries to integrate AI-powered systems for space awareness and missile tracking. Anduril planned to launch an Apex-built satellite bus in 2025, positioning Apex buses as a preferred hardware platform within the Lattice Defense Ecosystem.
Funding roundSeed funding round
2022-10-24Seed raising $7500000
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Record createdAug 7, 2026
Added to the verified registry
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedMar 4, 2024
Apex Satellite Bus at Low Earth Orbit
Sources (2)
Common questions
What is Apex Space?
What does Apex Space make?
Is Apex Space publicly traded?
Who competes with Apex Space?
Who is the CEO of Apex Space?
How can I invest in Apex Space?
Where is Apex Space headquartered?
How much funding has Apex Space raised?
Who owns Apex Space?
Where does Apex Space operate robots?
How many robots has Apex Space deployed?
Is Apex Space a top robotics company?
Is Apex Space safe?
Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-10-12
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-10-12
Sources by quality tier
- 2
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Apex Space.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 Apex Space from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Apex Raises 200M At 2.3B Valuation
Apex raised 200M at a 2.3B valuation led by Glade Brook Capital Partners, its third 200M round in 14 months. The company also named Michael Kopet as CFO.
Apex Raises 200 Million Series D Financing
Apex announced 200M Series D funding led by Interlagos, boosting valuation over 1B. The company also announced Comet, its largest satellite bus, and acquired Phase Four…
Apex Raises 200 Million in Series C Funding to Increase Productized Satellite Bus Manufacturing
Apex announced 200M Series C led by Point72 Ventures and co-led by 8VC, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Washington Harbour Partners, and StepStone Group.
Satellite startup Apex wins 45.9 million Space Force contract
Apex secured a 45.9M contract from the U.S. Space Force for satellite delivery by 2032 across multiple orbits, marking its largest government deal to date.
Apex Raises 95M in Series B Funding to Increase Productized Satellite Bus Manufacturing
Apex announced 95M Series B led by XYZ Venture Capital and co-led by CRV, with participation from 8VC, Toyota Ventures, Point72 Ventures, and Andreessen Horowitz.
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/apex-space.md
- RSS feed: /companies/apex-space/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/b5d46ea5-a57b-443b-b764-a825da6134f6
- Revision history: /companies/apex-space/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
Apex Legends Loba in Real Life - Loba animations. give Valkyrie heirloom from Apex Legends Awakening Collection Event pls ✅ Subscribe here: https://bit.ly/3y5nfgo ▶ More Apex Legends: https://bit.ly/39n1BxJ #shorts #Ap
Apex Legends Pathfinder interactive robot. 3D printing x Sugru sculpted assembly x Adafruit PyPortal with CircuitPython -- Full build video and Pathfinder guide
Apex Robotics FRC Team 5803 proudly presents its 2019 robot design, Redshift, built to compete in FIRST Destination: Deep Space! Apex will be attending the Mt.
Get ready for Redshift, Apex's robot competing in FIRST Destination: Deep Space
What are swarm robots and why are they the future of automation, robotics, and collective intelligence? In this episode of Apex Future Facts, we explore swarm r
bored edit procrastinating hw yes the robot is actually real boston dynamics made it its called atlas and its awesome and maybe itll take over the world one day
Dive into the future with Osiris-Apex, the groundbreaking AI-driven robot designed to revolutionize industries. From enhancing manufacturing precision to advanc
NASA is attempting the impossible! 🚀 In this video, we break down how a groundbreaking robotic spacecraft is launching to save the $500 million Swift telescope
Celebrate National Space Day with Apex Microtechnology as we reflect on our flight heritage and the critical role we play in space exploration. From powering m
Heat Index
Category contender79/100
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
Apex Space draws attention at the 67th percentile but verifies reality at the 20th percentile among space robots. Hype Gap +47.4, 10th widest among space robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 1 verified deployment. Well-capitalized with $703M raised and recent funding activity. Deployment footprint remains limited relative to category peers.
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 5, 2026