Female Founders Fund recently led our $1.5 million seed funding round, recognising Space DOTS® as the first commercial space intelligence platform addressing the critical lack of reliable environmental data in orbit. In this interview, CEO and founder Bianca Cefalo shares insights into building revolutionary space technology, the challenges of transforming an entire industry, and her vision for making space intelligence accessible to all.
You've had a remarkable journey from aerospace engineer to founder — what was the catalyst for launching Space DOTS®?
The catalyst wasn't a single moment—it was a decade of accumulated frustration watching brilliant engineering undermined by inadequate data. During my early work as a thermofluid dynamic analyst on NASA's InSight Mars Mission, I found myself hard-coding dust devil simulations with massive assumptions and virtually non-existent data, trying to optimise a payload destined for Martian soil. Even then, I recognised we were building billion-dollar missions on educated guesswork.
Later, as a spacecraft thermal engineer, the pattern became undeniable. I'd model payloads and thermal control systems, run extensive ground tests, and correlate simulated performance with expected orbital conditions—only to discover significant mismatches every time. The reality of space is messier, harsher, and infinitely more complex than our simulations suggested.
When I transitioned to product management at Airbus Defence and Space, working on next-generation telecommunications spacecraft, the fundamental problem crystallised: we simply don't possess current, reliable environmental data for orbital operations. Every orbital regime presents unique challenges—what functions perfectly in LEO behaves entirely differently in GEO or cislunar space. Yet whenever I proposed innovative solutions, the response remained consistent: "If it hasn't flown already, we're not using it on our satellite."
That's the space industry paradox. We're instructed to innovate whilst simultaneously having anything unproven rejected. Innovation becomes strangled before testing begins. I was hired as an "innovator" within a corporate environment but constantly told "not too much."
The realisation struck me: it would be faster to establish a company and deploy a payload than navigate internal approval chains. That's precisely what I did. Environmental data scarcity doesn't just frustrate engineers—it cripples the entire value chain. Anomalies occur without attribution, forcing the industry to add excessive redundancies "just in case," resulting in heavier spacecraft, higher costs, and designs built on fear rather than intelligence.
How would you explain what Space DOTS® does to someone outside the space industry?
Space DOTS® functions like an epidemiologist for spacecraft. We study the invisible environment they traverse, trace failure causes, and build predictive models that prevent future incidents. Simply put: we detect before damage occurs.
Our SKY-I™ platform is powered by DataDOT™ sensors—orbital sensing payloads that capture critical environmental data including radiation, interference, and invisible natural or human-originated threats. SKY-I™ fuses this with external sources and employs AI to explain anomalies, display real-time conditions, and forecast future events. Think of DataDOT™ as the sensors collecting signals, with SKY-I™ serving as the command centre transforming them into actionable intelligence.
The result is an intelligence layer that spacecraft manufacturers, operators, insurers, and defence organizations can utilise to strengthen spacecraft, plan safer missions, and respond effectively when unexpected events occur.
This matters because nearly 15% of spacecraft experience anomalies or outright failure, often because manufacturers and operators don't fully understand their operational environments. Ground simulations can only model limited scenarios—actual space conditions are more complex, with every orbital regime presenting distinct challenges. Radiation alone can flip bits, degrade materials, and destroy components, making it a leading cause of commercial spacecraft failures.
Meanwhile, the global space economy is accelerating toward $1.8 trillion by 2035. This "second space age" is more diverse, disruptive, and dangerous than the first. Commercial constellations, defence assets, and national infrastructure all depend on successful orbital operations—yet operators are effectively flying blind.
Space DOTS® addresses this by generating proprietary orbital environmental data and fusing it with external sources into real-time attribution, nowcasting, and forecasting—providing spacecraft the intelligence advantage to survive and succeed in contested space.
You are the only female founder in Europe currently operating something in orbit. Can you explain the significance of this?
It's significant because it demonstrates what's possible. Space has historically been among the least diverse industries, yet here we are. I never anticipated being the first European female founder to launch and continuously operate an orbital payload—there are other incredible women building space companies across Europe.
For me, it's not about being the only one; it's about ensuring I'm not the last. If our journey can inspire other women and underrepresented founders to envision themselves building in space, that impact is as important as the data we're collecting from orbit.
What are you most proud of regarding Space DOTS®' progress?
I'm most proud of launching and operating our first orbital payload whilst still at pre-seed stage. When we raised that round, I committed that within twelve months we'd have hardware in orbit. That urgency became our driving principle: prove we can move fast, forge partnerships, design, build, and deploy.
In May 2024, just three months from initial concept to spacecraft integration, our engineering team had DataDOT™ 1 ready for the SpaceX mission. That development speed paired with successful first-mission execution as a startup is virtually unprecedented in space technology.
The fact that DataDOT™ 1 is operational and collecting valuable data represents significant validation. First space missions are never guaranteed successes, but we achieved it. I'm proudest of the team that made it happen.
What key lessons from your pre-Space DOTS® career have informed your founder journey?
If you're technical, you absolutely must know how to sell. At Airbus, I had to convince decision-makers why new technologies deserved integration into next-generation spacecraft. That required building technical, financial, and operational cases whilst navigating organizational politics until people listened. The best salespeople weren't smooth talkers—they were engineers and scientists who could tell compelling stories whilst understanding products completely.
Rejection has become my favourite sparring partner. This industry delivers "no" constantly—from investors, customers, partners. People dismiss your vision or can't imagine your possibilities. I've learned to treat rejection as fuel. It sharpens your approach, forces refinement, and makes proving them wrong incredibly satisfying.
There are no problems—only solutions. As an engineer, the more challenging the problem, the more I want to deconstruct and rebuild it. Founding a company amplifies this: every day you're solving something in product, people, strategy, or finances. My belief is simple: nothing can't be analysed, fixed, or figured out.
Failure isn't optional in space—it's part of the equation. Space is brutally unforgiving. Spacecraft fail, rockets explode, customers disappear. Failure is inherent to the industry. The only thing that matters is whether you recover and launch again.
What's been the most unexpected founder challenge?
The most unexpected challenge has been the isolation of leadership. I wasn't prepared for how every life decision suddenly hinges on business direction. You lose partners who aren't aligned with your vision, and your social circle becomes smaller but more deliberate. You eliminate everything and everyone that doesn't align with your direction or drains your focus and energy.
I've navigated this by finding community among other founders—peers who understand the emotional highs and lows. We support each other through difficult periods and celebrate wins as if they were our own. That camaraderie is different—deeper, more authentic, and more profound than anything I've experienced previously.
What's your vision for Space DOTS® in the next decade?
I envision Space DOTS® becoming a category-defining company—both technologically and culturally.
Space access should never mean gated power; it should mean shared knowledge. Our vision is making environmental intelligence the backbone of both civil and defence space operations—protecting national infrastructure, navigation, and security whilst opening access to the broader community.
This isn't just about satellites or data. It's about reshaping humanity's relationship with space. The more we understand orbital conditions, the better we can protect terrestrial assets. Space DOTS® will stand as the company that made space belong—not just to agencies and corporations, but to everyone.
How do you see your technology influencing sectors beyond aerospace?
Defence and national security are immediately impacted by our capabilities. Long-term, Space DOTS® positions itself as Critical National Infrastructure enabler for space operations and national security. Civil space and defence space are complementary—the same environmental intelligence that helps commercial operators de-risk missions also strengthens resilience for defence assets in contested orbits.
From there, applications cascade across multiple sectors: aviation benefits from radiation and space weather forecasting for long-haul flights; energy infrastructure can model extreme environments affecting nuclear facilities or satellite-powered grids; insurance and finance can quantify previously "uninsurable" complex space operations and high-risk defence assets.
Fundamentally, Space DOTS® makes invisible environments visible. Once you achieve that in orbit—the harshest, most data-scarce environment—you unlock predictive intelligence that translates across sectors where resilience, safety, and security are non-negotiable.
What's your "moonshot" goal?
What excites me most is Space DOTS® becoming the intelligence backbone that enables permanent human habitation beyond Earth—on the Moon, Mars, or orbital stations around new worlds. That means transforming what feels like science fiction today into daily reality: thriving space economies, interplanetary travel, resource extraction, and human habitat construction.
In fifty years, I want humanity to reflect and acknowledge: we couldn't have lived beyond Earth without Space DOTS®' intelligence systems guiding the way.
This interview was originally conducted by Female Founders Fund as part of their portfolio company series. Female Founders Fund led Space DOTS®' $1.5 million seed funding round in 2025.
