An Australian startup is photographing other people’s satellites in orbit, and one of its customers runs America’s spy satellites. The company is HEO Robotics. It came out of UNSW Founders in 2017, cofounded by William Crowe.
How it works
HEO didn’t launch a fleet. It uses more than 50 sensors already flying on other companies’ satellites, plus 8 of its own. Its software works out when one of them will pass a target spacecraft, takes the photo on the way past, and then analyses what the satellite is doing and what condition it is in.
The customers
- Australia’s Department of Defence
- Japan’s Ministry of Defense
- The US National Reconnaissance Office
The raise
HEO closed a US$25M (A$37M) Series B led by Beaten Zone Venture Partners. The National Reconstruction Fund put in $10M, with Dcode Capital and existing backers Airtree and Salus Ventures also in. That follows a $3M seed in 2021 and a $12M Series A led by Airtree in 2023.
The money goes into more sensors, more satellite operator partnerships and software. HEO has booked its first 2 launches into geostationary orbit, starting later in 2026, with regular imaging there planned for 2027.
My read
One of the smartest ways into space I’ve seen. Building and launching your own constellation is slow and expensive. HEO worked out that the cameras were already up there, and the hard part was knowing where to point them.