3D render of planet Earth viewed from space. Photo: NASA

Climate-focused satellite constellation startup Muon Space has raised a $10 million seed funding round, led by Costanoa Ventures. In addition, Space Capital, Congruent VC, Ubiquity Ventures, South Park Commons, and Climactic VC also participated in the funding round announced Wednesday. 

Muon Space plans to build what it calls the Earth’s first scientific, software-defined remote sensing constellation platform to collaborate with organizations to deliver climate and Earth systems data. Its small satellites will focus on scientific-grade measurements of the atmosphere, ocean, and land processes related to climate. The company is also a contractor for Tomorrow.io, to support the development of Tomorrow.io’s radar-equipped weather satellite constellation architecture. 

Muon Space is based in Mountain View, California, and was founded by a remote sensing team with experience from JPL, Skybox Imaging, Loft Orbital, Ball Aerospace, Apple, and Google. CEO Johnny Dyer is a former chief engineer for Terra Bella, formerly Skybox Imaging, Google, and Lyft. 

“Improving the world’s ability to respond to climate change is one of the most important global problems we face today,” John Cowgill, partner at Costanoa Ventures said in the release. “This is far and away the best team to rethink and create a purpose-built constellation to provide mission-as-a-service and expand who has access to crucial climate data.”

Editor’s note: This piece has been updated to clarify Muon Space’s relationship with Tomorrow.io.