Capella Space is an American space technology company that designs, builds, and operates a constellation of synthetic aperture radar ("SAR") imaging satellites.¹

Unlike conventional optical imagery, SAR captures high-resolution images through clouds, smoke, and darkness, enabling day-and-night, all-weather imaging of any location on Earth.

In May 2025, quantum computing company IonQ announced a definitive agreement to acquire Capella, and the transaction closed in July 2025, with Capella now operating as a wholly owned subsidiary powering IonQ's planned space-based quantum key distribution network and quantum-enabled Earth observation offering.

Capella launched the first commercial SAR satellite in the United States in 2018 and has since delivered among the highest-resolution commercial SAR imagery available,² serving U.S. defense and intelligence customers including the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and the National Reconnaissance Office, as well as allied governments and commercial customers across maritime, energy, insurance, and supply chain monitoring.

Capella has raised approximately $250 million, most recently a NightDragon-led $97 million growth financing in 2022, backed by investors including DCVC, Spark Capital, NightDragon, and³ Thomas Tull's U.S. Innovative Technology Fund.

Capella has built its position in the Earth observation intelligence market on a vertically integrated model, in which it designs and manufactures its satellites in-house and operates them through its third-generation Acadia constellation. MVP believes demand for persistent, all-weather monitoring has accelerated amid escalating geopolitical conflict, and Global Market Insights projects⁴ the global SAR market will grow to more than $28 billion by 2035, as governments invest in continuous situational awareness.

You can learn more about the acquisition here.⁵

Notes

¹ Capella Space is shown as an example of a company in which MVP-advised funds have invested and was not selected based on investment performance. It is not representative of all MVP fund investments, and other investments performed differently, including at a loss. A complete list of investments is available on request.

² Source: Capella Space, capellaspace.com (accessed November 3, 2026). Company history, technical capabilities and customer references are as reported by the company and have not been independently verified by MVP.

³ Funding history: PitchBook, as of October 2026; Via Satellite, "Capella Raises $97M in Series C Round" (April 25, 2022).

⁴ Source: Global Market Insights, Synthetic Aperture Radar Market report (September 2026). Market projections are third-party estimates, are not a prediction of the performance of any company or MVP fund, and actual results may differ materially.

⁵ Links to third-party websites are provided for convenience. MVP does not control and is not responsible for their content.