Anduril acquires space surveillance company ExoAnalytic Solutions

The first step in waging war in space is knowing what is happening tens of thousands of kilometers above the planet. To that end, defense technology darling Anduril is buying boutique data firm ExoAnalytic Solutions.

ExoAnalytic operates a network of 400 telescopes around the world, which it uses to track spacecraft in high orbits above the planet. The company’s engineers develop software that turns those observations into situational awareness tools for U.S. national security agencies that monitor adversary spacecraft and coordinate U.S. assets in orbit.

“This is a company we have been working closely with for the last few years on a number of programs, and they are experts in space domain awareness and missile defense,” Anduril vice president of engineering Gokul Subramanian told reporters. “We believe (the Department of Defense) deserves the best catalog of everything that happens in space.”

The private companies did not disclose the terms of the agreement. Anduril is in the process of raising a $4 billion round from investors Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, Reuters reported last week.

ExoAnalytics will be integrated directly into Anduril, not managed as a separate subsidiary, although Subramanian said it would continue to serve existing and future third-party clients. Anduril currently has 120 employees focused on space defense, a number that will double with the addition of 130 ExoAnalytics employees.

The company’s technology could help Anduril win government contracts supporting the Golden Dome, the missile defense system that the U.S. Congress has allocated billions of dollars to build. That system is expected to include thousands of satellites to track and target enemy missiles, and maintaining real-time awareness and coordination between them will be a heavy lift.

Anduril plans to launch three spacecraft this year as internally funded R&D projects that will leverage capabilities gained in the acquisition. Subramanian said ExoAnalytic’s expertise in space data processing would be used in an infrared tracking satellite it plans to launch this year in partnership with Apex Space. The space tracking data will be used to execute two high-orbit missions expected to launch this year in partnership with Impulse Space and Argo Space, respectively.

There’s another potential angle to the acquisition: The computer vision algorithms ExoAnalytic has developed to detect satellites in orbit are also useful for interceptors trying to track and engage incoming threats. Anduril received a contract from the Pentagon in late 2025 to begin developing a space missile interceptor.

ExoAnalytic was founded in 2008 to adapt missile defense sensor technology to track spacecraft in orbit after U.S. military officials called for new and better ways to understand what was happening in space, CEO Doug Hendrix said in a 2024 interview. The company’s initial growth was funded by federal government grants and contracts, including $26 million in SBIR grants since 2010.

US Space Force officials have expressed deep concern about Chinese and Russian spacecraft flying very close to US and European satellites, where they could potentially intercept communications or damage the satellite with electronic or other weapons.

“Two years ago, a (U.S. commander in the Pacific) told me that the fleet cannot leave port without the space layer being secured,” Subramanian said. “Over the last few years we’ve been on a mission to figure out how to be part of that solution.”