Sydney space startup HEO Robotics has closed a US$25 million (A$37 million) Series B to expand a service that photographs other satellites in orbit, with the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation contributing $10 million, Startup Daily reported in September 2026.
Space has become crowded and contested, and governments want to know what is happening to the satellites they and their rivals operate. HEO’s customers include Australia’s Department of Defence, Japan’s Ministry of Defense and the US National Reconnaissance Office, the agency that runs America’s spy satellites.
How it works
Rather than launching its own constellation, HEO uses more than 50 sensors already flying on other companies’ satellites, plus eight of its own. Its software calculates when one of those sensors will pass a target spacecraft, captures images on the way past, then analyses what the satellite is doing and what condition it is in.
The approach avoids much of the cost and time involved in building and launching a dedicated fleet. NRFC chief executive David Gall said the investment “will enable HEO to monitor 90% of space objects of interest to Australian and allied defence”, according to Startup Daily.
The company and the raise
HEO came out of UNSW Founders in 2017 and was co-founded by William Crowe. “Some of the world’s most critical infrastructure is operating tens of thousands of kilometres above Earth,” Crowe said, as reported by Startup Daily.
The round was led by Beaten Zone Venture Partners, with Dcode Capital and existing investors Airtree and Salus Ventures also participating. It follows a $3 million seed round in 2021, led by Winton Group founder David Harding and Y Combinator, and a $12 million Series A led by Airtree in 2023.
What’s next
The funding will go into more sensors, partnerships with satellite operators and software. HEO has booked its first two launches into geostationary orbit, beginning later in 2026, with regular imaging coverage there planned for 2027. Geostationary orbit, about 36,000 kilometres up, is where many high-value communications and defence satellites sit.
Jack’s take
This is one of the smartest ways into space I have seen. Building and launching a constellation is slow and expensive, and HEO worked out that the cameras were already up there. The hard part was knowing where to point them, and that is a software problem Australia can win.