Xplore Receives $2M Contract from NSIC to Accelerate Xcraft Platform Development
September 21, 2021
Press Release
NSIC Executes Contract at the Speed of Business
Redmond, WA – September 21, 2021 — Xplore Inc., a commercial space company providing Space as a Service®, today announced it has received a $2M contract from National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC) within the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) of the Department of Defense (DoD). This funding will accelerate the development of the XCRAFT™ spacecraft platform, culminating with launch in 2023.
"The significant funding NSIC has provided ensures U.S. government and commercial customers will have speedy access to our affordable XCRAFT™ platform. This $2M award will expedite component acquisitions and accelerate our flight program. We appreciate this investment in Xplore and are proud to be a trusted non-traditional defense contractor for NSIC."
— Lisa Rich, Founder and COO
Xplore's standard XCRAFT™ high-performance, high reliability ESPA-class platform provides hosting and other services for a wide variety of customers and payloads. The XCRAFT™ was purposefully designed for use in low Earth orbit, cislunar space and beyond, to destinations including Venus, Mars and the asteroids. The company's first XCRAFT™ LEO (XLEO) mission in 2023 will directly benefit from NSIC funding.
Xplore invites payload customers to discover hosting opportunities on its XLEO missions. The XLEO service is designed to host a wide variety of customer payloads — from as small as 1U to as large as 50U or more. This service allows customers to focus on their primary business goals without the added time and expense of procuring, launching and operating dedicated satellites.
Other impacts of this funding will be evidenced by the company's recent collaboration with W. M. Keck Observatory, enabling Xplore to accelerate its timeline for the Xplore Space Telescope (XST) missions.
"We were thrilled to negotiate this contract from start to finish in just 21 days. NSIC is clearly committed to Xplore's success; we are impressed with their ability to expedite and operate at the speed of business."
— Lisa Rich, Founder and COO
About NSIC
Housed within the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC) is a Department of Defense initiative that provides funding to early-stage hardware startups commercializing dual-use technologies critical to national security and economic competitiveness.
About Xplore
Xplore is a commercial space company offering Space as a Service®. Xplore provides hosted payloads, communication relay services and exclusive datasets to its customers via solutions provided by its XCRAFT™ and LightCraft™ multi-mission platforms.