Pasadena Startup Powers Space Missions With Cloud-Based Platform

A Pasadena-based space technology company founded by two former Jet Propulsion Laboratory technologists is helping reshape how orbital missions are planned and managed, using a cloud-based platform built entirely on Amazon Web Services.

Continuum Space Systems Inc., headquartered in Pasadena, has developed a software suite that enables mission planners to ideate, design, simulate, build, test, and operate space missions through a web-based collaborative suite.

The platform integrates licensed tools from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, including GMAT, SPICE, and MONTE, according to a July 2018 NASA Spinoff feature.

These tools are part of NASA’s publicly available mission analysis software suite and are used widely in aerospace applications.

“Our platform enables space teams to plan, design and test more effectively throughout the lifecycle of a mission so customers can focus on their main mission priorities,” said Marc Fagan, CEO of Continuum, in a June 22 statement to TechCrunch following the company’s $3 million seed extension round.

That round brought Continuum’s total funding to $6 million.

The company was co-founded by Leon Alkalai, who serves as chairman, and Loic Chappaz, chief technology officer.

Both previously held technical roles at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is also based in Pasadena.

Chappaz described the platform’s integrated capabilities in a NASA Spinoff article as “basically a mission in a box. You have a design, you have navigation, you have a solution.”

Continuum’s product page outlines the platform’s modular structure, which supports each phase of a mission’s development: mission ideation, design and simulation, build and test, and mission operations.

The company’s use of cloud infrastructure is intended to streamline collaboration and reduce the need for physical hardware during early mission planning.

The company’s Pasadena roots are described by its founders as central to its identity, drawing on the region’s legacy of aerospace innovation and proximity to Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Continuum’s founders note the significance of their experience at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in shaping the platform’s technical foundation.