{"id":"c7a48bad-affd-4ead-8044-e450ca520876","name":"Fortastra","slug":"fortastra","description":"Los Angeles-based space defense startup building autonomous escort satellites to defend critical orbital assets. Founded by SpaceX veteran and [Hermeus](/companies/hermeus) co-founder Mike Smayda in 2025. Closed USD 8M seed round led by Upfront Ventures with participation from Bloomberg Beta, Generational Partners, Forward Deployed VC, and Wave Function Ventures. Developing maneuverable satellites with high delta-v propulsion for orbital security.","status":"private","founded":2025,"hq":"Los Angeles, California, USA","hqLat":34.0536909,"hqLng":-118.242766,"hqGeocodedAt":"2026-08-23T21:01:15.490Z","hqAddress":null,"hqPrecision":null,"website":"fortastra.com","fundingTotal":"8000000","type":"hardware","roles":["robot_maker"],"reviewStatus":"reviewed","heatIndex":75,"lifecycleState":"active","supersededByCompanyId":null,"sources":[{"url":"https://payloadspace.com/fortastra-lands-8m-seed-to-develop-orbital-defense-sats/","title":"Fortastra Lands $8M Seed to Develop Orbital Defense Sats","sourceName":"Payload"}],"keyFacts":[{"label":"Mission","value":"Develops orbital defense spacecraft to provide physical security to government and commercial satellites."},{"label":"Seed investors (company-claimed)","value":"Led by Upfront Ventures with Generational Partners, Forward Deployed Venture Capital, Bloomberg Beta and Wave Function Ventures."},{"label":"Founder background","value":"Founder Mike Smayda is a SpaceX veteran and Hermeus cofounder."},{"label":"Use of funds (company-claimed)","value":"Validate sensor hardware and build integrated software and autonomy for protect-and-defend maneuvers."},{"label":"Planned capabilities (company-claimed)","value":"Remote sensing, autonomous operations, and an end effector to handle third-party hardware in vacuum."},{"label":"Market view (company-claimed)","value":"Smayda sees an emerging commercial orbital-security market beyond DoD; Upfront's Nick Kim says government budget can sustain R&D."}],"aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"atsProvider":null,"atsSlug":null,"factoryLocations":null,"manufacturingCapacity":null,"orgType":null,"burnSignal":null,"litigationEvents":null,"insurancePostureDisclosed":null,"unitEconomicsDisclosed":null,"tickerSymbol":null,"stockExchange":null,"secCik":null,"revenueUsd":null,"revenueBasis":null,"revenueAsOf":null,"employeeCount":10,"employeeCountBasis":null,"employeeCountAsOf":null,"marketCapUsd":null,"marketCapAsOf":null,"marketCapSource":null,"createdAt":"2026-08-08T18:57:36.230Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-13T02:42:06.865Z","jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/companies/fortastra","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/companies/fortastra","name":"Fortastra","description":"Los Angeles-based space defense startup building autonomous escort satellites to defend critical orbital assets. Founded by SpaceX veteran and [Hermeus](/companies/hermeus) co-founder Mike Smayda in 2025. Closed USD 8M seed round led by Upfront Ventures with participation from Bloomberg Beta, Generational Partners, Forward Deployed VC, and Wave Function Ventures. Developing maneuverable satellites with high delta-v propulsion for orbital security.","identifier":"c7a48bad-affd-4ead-8044-e450ca520876","foundingDate":"2025","address":"Los Angeles, California, USA","publisher":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"}},"framework_metadata":{"framework_schema_version":"0.1.0","verification_status":"verified","maturity_stage":null,"lifecycle_state":null,"architectural_position":{"cohort":null,"sub_cohorts":[]},"within_cohort_verified_vs_claimed_pair":null,"cap_flags":[],"verification_depth":{"sources_count":1,"primary_source_types":[]}}}