Pentagon Loans $150M to LeoLabs to Build Ground Radars

The Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital announced a $150 million loan agreement to space intelligence company LeoLabs to expand its manufacturing capacity and add dozens of radars to its global network by 2030.

“The OSC financing will accelerate LeoLabs’ expansion of its U.S. manufacturing capacity, which includes the completion of two large-scale manufacturing facilities by 2028,” LeoLabs said in a Nov. 5 statement. “It will also expand the company’s ability to deliver sovereign radars for U.S. and allied government customers.”

The loan is conditional; LeoLabs must complete several financial, legal, and technical requirements to secure the financing, which must be matched dollar-for-dollar by private investment, bringing the total new investment to $300 million.

“This financing equips the Department of War with unparalleled Space Domain Awareness capabilities and demonstrates our commitment to unleashing private capital to solve our most pressing national security challenges,” said OSC Director David Lorch in a statement. “By supporting the expansion of a globally distributed, wholly domestic space radar architecture, this transaction bolsters U.S. resilience against geopolitical disruptions in orbit and ensures that next-gen technologies are powered by secure, domestically sourced data.”

LeoLabs operates a radar network to detect and track foreign launches and objects in space—a top priority for military space leaders. The company’s systems are stationed at locations around the world, including New Zealand, Australia, Alaska, Texas, and Hawaii. Its Seeker and Ranger radars operate from fixed sites, and its Scout radar is mobile, designed to be quickly transported or repositioned as needed.

Established in 2016, the company has several contracts with the Space Force and other DOD agencies to integrate observation data and demonstrate its radar capabilities. In August, the Space Force awarded LeoLabs a $20 million prototype contract to deliver a modified version of its Scout radar to support defense missions. And in September 2025, the Office of Space Commerce and the Space Force’s Joint Commercial Operations cell obtained a license to access LeoLabs’ object-tracking catalog—which includes nearly 29,000 government and commercial space objects—as well as radar observations and maneuver detection data.

LeoLabs is among just six companies selected to support the Space Force’s nascent Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve, providing space domain awareness capability to support operations during peacetime and surge capacity during a conflict.

“High-precision orbital tracking is integral to the U.S. economy and the defense industrial base, and its importance is only going to grow on account of the rapid commercialization of space,” said Jordan Sebold, Senior Managing Director at OSC, in the statement. “OSC’s investment in LeoLabs will help ensure we maintain persistent custody of the objects that matter most.”

The Defense Department’s announcement comes on the heels of a similar $150 million loan commitment to emerging rocket builder Stoke Space to support its growing launch footprint at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla. Stoke Space already has one pad at the range, and OSC said Oct. 26 that the loan would help finance a second.

The Pentagon established OSC in 2022 to help connect firms developing critical defense technology with private capital. Along with the recent space loans, OSC announced two other agreements in October: a $1.5 billion loan to Wolfspeed, Inc., to build advanced semiconductor components and materials; and an Oct. 17, conditional commitment with Antheia, Inc., to scale its biomanufacturing efforts.