Acquisition
Aug 2020Benchmark Space Systems announced a permanent licensing partnership to integrate Tesseract Space's intellectual property, assets, and staff; Tesseract co-founder Erik Franks joined Benchmark's leadership team.
SourceTesseract builds better thrusters for modern satellites
Company research
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Overview
Tesseract is a spacecraft propulsion hardware company that designs and manufactures green propulsion systems for small satellites and other in-space applications, including off-the-shelf thrusters, multi-thruster modules, turn-key propulsion systems, and custom engineering/manufacturing services.
Primary product
Spacecraft propulsion hardware and green propulsion systems
Founded
2017
Headquarters
North Hills, California, United States
Team size
1-10
Industry
Defense and Space Manufacturing
Sub-industry
Spacecraft propulsion hardware
Offices
Livermore, California, United States
Orlando, United States
Business model
hardware sales
custom engineering services
manufacturing
turn-key propulsion systems
Funding
Stage
Seed
Total raised
$2.5M
Latest round
Grant · May 2021
Latest amount
$120K
People & investors
Work & culture
Public messaging emphasizes safer low-toxicity propulsion, cost consciousness, and quality/reliability for flight-qualified aerospace hardware.
Product & market
Pricing
Not publicly disclosed
Differentiators
- —Safer, low-toxicity propulsion versus toxic heritage propellants
- —Cost-focused manufacturing and materials strategy
- —Turn-key propulsion systems rather than component-only sales
- —Compact propulsion for small satellites and in-space applications
- —Positioned as higher performance / easier handling than hydrazine-based systems
Technology
green propulsion
low-toxicity propellants
spacecraft thrusters
multi-thruster modules
turn-key propulsion systems
custom design and manufacturing
modern materials and manufacturing methods
Customers
Space Systems/Loral (SSL)
Competitors
Benchmark Space Systems
Phase Four
Avio
SpaceFields
X-Bow Systems
Scale & contact
Estimated revenue
under $1M
Estimated monthly visits
312
Traffic estimate as of Jun 2026
Signals & risks
Latest news
Benchmark Space Systems · Aug 2020
Benchmark said it would integrate Tesseract Space intellectual property, assets, and staff and expand its non-toxic chemical propulsion business; Erik Franks joined Benchmark leadership.
SatNews · Aug 2020
Satellite-industry coverage of the Benchmark/Tesseract licensing and staff/IP integration deal.
TechCrunch · Jul 2019
Profiles Tesseract's green propulsion technology, products Polaris and Adhara, early customers, and a $2M seed round.
Crowdfund Insider · Jun 2018
Reports on Tesseract's Wefunder campaign, prior funding from angels and Y Combinator, and product/performance claims.
P2PMarketData · Apr 2018
States the Wefunder campaign raised $929,391 from 1,253 investors and closed on 2018-12-14.
Jobs and careers at Tesseract
1 job at Tesseract
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Remote
7mo ago
Remote
Full-time