TAMPA, Fla. — Former SpaceX engineers who helped build and scale Starlink have launched a startup aiming to deliver megaconstellations for governments and companies seeking more control over space-based infrastructure.
Led by former SpaceX satellite payload engineering manager Derek Huerta, Eclipse Space emerged from stealth June 26 after being founded a year ago in Redmond, Washington, home to Starlink’s main satellite production facility.
Eclipse is preparing to deliver its first customer hardware later this year, including a prototype phased array and a telemetry, tracking and command radio, ahead of an integrated demonstration spacecraft planned for 2027.
Unlike SpaceX’s tightly controlled, vertically integrated Starlink structure, the startup is pursuing a fabless production model that Huerta likened to Apple’s iPhone approach.
Eclipse would design the satellites, own intellectual property and set up the manufacturing process, but work with regional partners to assemble them, giving customers more control and ownership without first having to build a SpaceX-scale organization.
