Space missions are becoming more complex and time-sensitive, but the ground systems that support them have not kept pace. For many satellite operators, securing ground connectivity now takes longer than building and launching spacecraft.
The result is delays, higher costs, and growing reliance on fragmented vendors that were never designed to support large, fast-moving constellations across multiple orbits. This is the problem Northwood, founded in 2023 by CEO Bridgit Mendler, CTO Griffin Cleverly, and Head of Software Shaurya Luthra, is trying to address.
The US-based company has raised $100 million in a Series B round to expand its ground infrastructure network for high-capability space missions. The round was led by Washington Harbour Partners and co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Alpine Space Ventures, Founders Fund, StepStone, Balerion, Fulcrum, Pax, 137 Ventures, and others.
Accelerating ground infrastructure delivery
While satellite technology has advanced rapidly, ground infrastructure has lagged and proved difficult to deploy. Operators often have to build and manage ground systems themselves or stitch together multiple providers, creating operational risk and long integration cycles. In practice, many end up running two businesses: the space mission and the ground network required to operate it.
Northwood’s approach is to take responsibility for the entire ground stack. The company designs, builds, deploys, and operates ground infrastructure as a single system, aiming to reduce deployment timelines from years to months, and in some cases, days.
At the centre of this strategy is Portal, Northwood’s multi-beam phased array system. Unlike traditional dish-based antennas, Portal can electronically steer multiple beams simultaneously, enabling it to communicate with satellites across low Earth orbit, medium Earth orbit, and geostationary orbit without mechanical movement.
This capability is designed to support missions that need high power, frequent handovers, and flexibility across orbits.
Northwood says it has already reached several technical and operational milestones. In late 2024, the company completed telemetry, tracking, and command operations with Planet Labs.
In 2025, it demonstrated higher-power versions of Portal and began producing units at scale. As of early 2026, operational systems have been deployed across multiple continents, with new sites brought online in days rather than months.
Alongside its hardware, Northwood has built the software and network backbone required to operate a global ground system, including cloud infrastructure, modems, telemetry systems, and custom firmware. The company currently has multiple sites live, several under construction, and more in development across five continents.
“Northwood is entrusted with missions where failure isn’t an option and scale is non-negotiable,” Says Katherine Boyle, General Partner at Andreesen Horowitz. “The team brings rare technical depth across hardware, software, and national security programs, and they’ve translated that heritage into operational systems supporting real missions today. With this Series B, we’re doubling down on our conviction that Northwood has both the long-term backing and the execution discipline to become the ground infrastructure partner that the most serious missions are built around.”
