What Planetary Transportation Systems does

Planetary Transportation Systems (PTS) is a Berlin-based private spaceflight-systems and engineering-services supplier, founded in 2009 as Part-Time Scientists and relaunched under its current name in January 2020 following a management buy-out after its 2019 insolvency. The company designs, builds and integrates spacecraft and subsystems for institutional customers — principally the European Space Agency and ArianeGroup — including the ALINA lunar lander, the Audi Lunar Quattro rovers developed with Audi AG, the Curium One 12U CubeSat (launched aboard Ariane 6's maiden flight on 9 July 2024 and operating at 580 km altitude), and the avionics and operating system for the Ariane 6 ASTRIS kick stage, where PTS is the largest subcontractor on a programme publicly reported at approximately €90M. PTS also develops turnkey lunar-surface communication systems (LTE Band 3 network with Vodafone and Nokia Bell Labs), maintains a lunar analogue test site at Rostock-Laage Airport, and operates an open-source software stack across eight public GitHub repositories covering rover simulation, SLAM, embedded firmware, network simulation and avionics traceability.

PTS monetises through four streams: direct ESA government contracts and engineering-services work, a major ArianeGroup subcontract on ASTRIS, custom spacecraft development services for partners, and the patented CLAM container-tracking and load-sensing IoT product co-developed with Zeitfracht Group, which transfers space-grade sensing and connectivity IP into terrestrial logistics. The go-to-market is enterprise field sales targeting space agencies and aerospace primes, with all pricing negotiated via custom B2B contracts and no public price list. Through its Arch Mission Foundation partnership, PTS has contributed to two lunar data landings (Beresheet in 2019 and Intuitive Machines' Odysseus in 2024).

The company is registered in Germany (Planetary Transportation Systems (PTS) GmbH; the public-facing website is operated by Innovius UG), employs 11–50 people across offices in Berlin, Berlin-Mahlsdorf, Teltow, Salzburg (Austria), and Houston (United States), and holds leadership recognition including a Cannes Lions Bronze Lion (2016) and a Red Dot Award: Communication Design (2016) for the Audi 'Mission to the Moon' campaign, as well as $750,000 in Google Lunar X-Prize Milestone Prizes (2015).

Name

Planetary Transportation Systems

Legal name

Innovius UG (haftungsbeschränkt)

Website

https://pts.space

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Planetary Transportation Systems is a Berlin-based spaceflight-systems and engineering-services supplier that builds lunar landers, rovers, CubeSats and Ariane 6 kick-stage avionics for ESA and ArianeGroup, and operates a patented CLAM terrestrial IoT container-tracking product with Zeitfracht.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Spacecraft Systems Engineering

NAICS

Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing (336414), Other Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing (336419), Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing (33641)

SIC

Guided Missiles & Space Vehicles & Parts (3760), Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812)

akta.pro primary industry

Spacecraft & Satellites (Civil/Commercial) (IMABACAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Spacecraft Avionics, Flight Computers & Software (IMABACAI), Spacecraft Integration, Assembly & Test (IAT) (IMABACAK), Space Payloads & Instruments (Sensors, Comms, EO/IR) (IMABACAD)

Keywords

• Lunar lander development
• Rocket stage avionics
• CubeSat engineering
• Spacecraft systems integration
• Aerospace engineering services

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. ESA Government Contracts: Direct contracts with European Space Agency for spaceflight systems and engineering services, including the Boost!/Fly! programme for Curium One and ISRU lunar mission definition studies.
2. ArianeGroup Subcontract - ASTRIS Kick Stage: Major subcontract with ArianeGroup as the largest subcontractor on the Ariane 6 ASTRIS kick stage programme, developing avionics and operating system. Contract publicly reported at ~€90M.
3. Spacecraft Development Services: Custom engineering and development of lunar landers, rovers, satellites, and rocket components for partners and customers.
4. CLAM Terrestrial IoT Product: Turnkey container-tracking and load-sensing solution (CLAM) deployed with Zeitfracht Group fleet - applying space heritage to terrestrial logistics.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

PTS designs and manufactures spacecraft hardware including the ALINA robotic lunar lander, Curium One 12U CubeSat, and avionics for the Ariane 6 ASTRIS upper kick stage, while providing spaceflight engineering services to ESA and aerospace primes such as ArianeGroup. The company has also spun off its space-grade sensor technology into the patented CLAM IoT container-tracking system, sold commercially to logistics operators through its Zeitfracht Group partnership.

Product overview

Planetary Transportation Systems (PTS) operates as a spaceflight-systems and engineering-services supplier, having pivoted from its origins as a single-mission Moon-landing company (Part-Time Scientists / PTScientists). The product portfolio centers on spacecraft development — notably the ALINA lunar lander and Audi Lunar Quattro rovers for lunar surface missions — and extends to satellite systems (Curium One 12U CubeSat) and rocket avionics (Ariane 6 ASTRIS kick stage). The company has also spun off terrestrial IoT technology through CLAM, a patented container-tracking and load-sensing system developed with Zeitfracht Group. PTS offers engineering services, maintains a lunar analogue test site at Rostock Airport, and contributes open-source space technology via GitHub repositories.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ALINA Lunar Lander Robotic lunar lander with launch mass of ~1,250 kg and landing mass of ~320 kg, capable of delivering up to 100 kg of payload to the lunar surface (up to 300 kg in an upgraded configuration). Equipped with eight 200 N main engines, attitude control thrusters, X-band and S-band communications, and a lunar 4G LTE surface network developed jointly with Vodafone and Nokia. Intended for commercial payload delivery, lunar science missions, and ESA contracting opportunities.
• Audi Lunar Quattro Rovers Two flight-model lunar rovers co-developed with Audi AG, designed to be deployed from the ALINA lunar lander and conduct surface mobility operations including scientific payload deployment. Featured lightweight aluminum construction, four-wheel independent suspension, and high-resolution 3D printed stereo camera systems for surface operations.
• Curium One 12U CubeSat 12U CubeSat developed for ESA and the European Space Resources Innovation Centre (ESRIC) to support the Hera mission's planetary defense program and lunar surface resource research. Launched aboard the maiden flight of Ariane 6 as a payload customer to validate CubeSat development competence for ESA contracting opportunities.
• Ariane 6 ASTRIS Kick Stage Avionics Avionics system and operating system for the upper kick stage of the Ariane 6 launch vehicle, with an initial contract value of €90 million and additional call-off contracts for the ESDA-related program. PTS serves as largest subcontractor to ArianeGroup across multiple Ariane 6 and ESDA variants.
• CLAM Container Logistics and Asset Monitoring System Patented IoT container-tracking and load-sensing system derived from PTS's space-grade sensing IP. Provides real-time container location, status, and load monitoring to logistics operators, marketed jointly with logistics partners Zeitfracht Group and Patron Logistik as a commercial spin-off of spaceflight sensor technology.

Quantifiable outcome

• Won $750,000 in Google Lunar X-Prize Milestone Prizes (2015) for Mobility and Imaging subsystems
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ArianeGroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Prime contractor of the Ariane 6 ASTRIS kick stage. PTS selected as the largest subcontractor on avionics and operating system development - publicly reported at ~€90M.
• European Space Agency (ESA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019ISRU lunar mission definition study consortium member (January 2019). Selected PTS to fly Curium One satellite under Boost!/Fly! programme (February 2022). Major endorsement of PTS's post-restructuring engineering capability.
• Vodafone GermanycoreTechnology or Integration · 27 February 2018Provider of the planned 4G LTE network on the Moon - LTE Band 3 (1800 MHz) - to link the ALINA lander with the Lunar Quattro rovers. Joint announcement with Nokia Bell Labs for the first cellular network on the lunar surface.
• Nokia Bell LabscoreTechnology or Integration · 27 February 2018Built the spaceflight-grade LTE base-station hardware (under 1 kg) for the Mission to the Moon. Selected by Vodafone as technology partner to provide the 4G LTE base station linking lander and rovers.
• Arch Mission FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Lunar Library partner for Wikipedia and humanity's records. Data delivered to lunar surface aboard SpaceIL's Beresheet (April 2019) and Intuitive Machines' Odysseus (February 2024) - achieving two lunar data deliveries.
• Spaceflight IndustriesminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 November 2016Original launch broker for the Mission to the Moon - contracted in November 2016 to fly ALINA on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare to translunar injection. One of the first private commercial contracts for a lunar mission.
• Audi AGcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 June 2015Co-developer and main sponsor of the Lunar Quattro rovers. Partnership announced at Cannes Advertising Festival; rovers officially named 'Audi Lunar Quattro' at NAIAS Detroit (January 2016). The 'Mission to the Moon' brand campaign created by agency thjnk won a Bronze Lion at Cannes Lions 2016 and reached ~54 million media contacts.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• ispace: Tokyo-listed private lunar lander developer (Hakuto-R) targeting commercial payload delivery to the Moon. Directly comparable to PTS because both developed commercial lunar landers outside the government-prime ecosystem and competed in the Google Lunar X-Prize era, addressing the same commercial lunar payload market.
• Astrobotic Technology: Pittsburgh-based lunar lander company (Peregrine, Griffin) flying NASA CLPS missions to the Moon. Directly comparable to PTS as a private mid-tier lunar lander prime competing in the same payload-delivery market that ALINA was designed for.
• Intuitive Machines: Houston-based lunar lander company (Nova-C / Odysseus) that landed on the Moon in February 2024 under NASA CLPS. Direct peer to PTS in commercial lunar landers; PTS has actually flown payloads to the lunar surface through the Arch Mission Foundation partnership with IM's Odysseus mission.
• Open Cosmos: UK-based small-satellite and CubeSat manufacturer and mission operator delivering end-to-end space services. Comparable to PTS's Curium One CubeSat business line and ESA-aligned commercial spaceflight services model.
• AAC Clyde Space: Sweden/UK small-satellite and CubeSat subsystems manufacturer supplying commercial and institutional customers. Comparable to PTS as a small public European satellite subsystems and platform supplier competing for similar ESA and commercial rideshare opportunities.
• Beyond Gravity (formerly RUAG Space): Swiss supplier of space structures, mechanisms, thermal control and avionics for launch vehicles and satellites. Closest direct peer to PTS's ASTRIS kick-stage avionics work, supplying the same class of launch-vehicle and spacecraft subsystems to ESA primes.
• GomSpace: Danish CubeSat and small-satellite subsystems supplier serving commercial and institutional customers. Comparable to PTS as a small European CubeSat platform and avionics vendor competing for similar ESA and commercial constellation work.
• Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems: US-based (Terran Orbital) small-satellite and CubeSat platform builder with deep NASA/DoD mission heritage. Comparable to PTS as a small-satellite prime supplying avionics and integrated platforms to government and commercial customers worldwide.

Broad incumbents

• OHB: Munich-based listed European space prime (Galileo, MTG, Copernicus, lunar exploration). Comparable as a German-headquartered space-systems company competing for the same ESA contracts PTS targets, but at much larger scale and as a prime rather than subcontractor.

Emerging players

• D-Orbit: Italian in-orbit transportation and satellite deployment company (ION Satellite Carrier). Comparable emerging European NewSpace operator in the same commercial space transportation segment that PTS's ASTRIS kick stage and CubeSat deployment business addresses.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/PTSSpace
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Ptscientists
• Xx.com/pts_space
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pts-space

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Planetary Transportation Systems