Zaitra co-founders, with Marek Marusin center. Photo: Zaitra

AI and space tech startup Zaitra is working to make satellites more autonomous and boost the profile of the Czech space industry, where the company is based. 

Zaitra closed its pre-seed investment round of 1.7 million euros ($1.8 million) in October 2024, led by Berlin-based fund Sunfish Partners. The round also included contributions from Czech Founders VC and angel investor Jan Široký, former CTO of Czech unicorn Mews. The round also included funding from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TAČR).

Marek Marušin, CEO and co-founder of Zaitra, believes the company could signal a new dawn for the Czech space industry. 

“I am hearing more often that people in the industry are talking about local space companies. I believe it’s only a matter of time before we see a significant player emerge from the Czech Republic,” Marušin told Via Satellite. “We are working to make Zaitra that company. Currently, Zaitra is collaborating with all the key local players, and even government officials are beginning to recognize our work.”

Marušin called the funding an important first step toward becoming a significant player in the market and accelerating both its technology development and business strategy. 

The company has an ambitious mission to revolutionize the way data is processed on Earth, in orbit, and on the Moon by providing intelligence for space missions. It wants to reduce communication costs for satellite operators and prevent collisions in orbit. The company aims to make space-grade sensors smarter as it works on greater mission autonomy. 

Marušin said the founders came up with the idea for the company while working on a scientific satellite mission where they saw room for improvement. 

“It became so obvious to us that satellites will generate exponentially more data with new, better sensors. So, we need to handle something onboard a satellite autonomously. Then we started shaping the entire strategy for the future. We see several gaps in the market, for example, with the scalability of current solutions.” 

The company primarily targets satellite manufacturers and mission owners, including both institutional and commercial projects. 

Zaitria recently provided its onboard object detection software called Skaisen and Skaidock data processing unit for the TROLL hyperspectral nanosatellite built by Czech company TRL Space, that launched on the Transporter-12 mission earlier this month. 

“Satellite mission autonomy isn’t just a single application; it’s a suite of different use cases that need to be developed, such as satellite health monitoring, collision avoidance, and visual navigation,” Marušin explains. “We are already commercializing some of these [integrating] into two commercial satellites, providing real-time data filtering for Earth observation missions deployed to orbit.” 

In terms of what is on the technology roadmap in 2025, Marušin says the company has some in-orbit demonstrations scheduled for this year, with more planned in the following years. 

“The key point is that these are real, paying customers who want our technology,” he said. “We’re also exploring new markets and expanding globally, with some exciting partnerships to be announced soon. Our technology development roadmap is planned through 2030, and there’s still a lot to develop and test.”

The role of AI in the space industry has come sharply into focus over the last 12 months. Marušin says Zaitra has discovered that different satellite operators have varying motivations for using its products. 

“Some are focused on reducing downlink costs. For example, nanosatellites often face challenges with downlink itself, so we prioritize relevant data acquisition and only send the essential data to the ground. Whether we’re working with smaller or larger satellites, we can handle both and customize our hardware and software to meet each customer’s specific goals,” he says.

At this point, Zaitra operates as a component supplier, shipping products to commercial customers, but Marušin said the company is also targeting bidding as a prime contractor for government projects where it sees opportunity. The company also plans to seek new investors this year for its next funding round.