Grasp

What Grasp does

Grasp is a privately held Earth observation company headquartered in Bachy, France, with a U.S. operating presence in Baltimore acquired through its October 2022 purchase of AirPhoton. The combined entity, operating as Grasp Global / Grasp Earth, builds proprietary space payloads deployed on cubesats and integrates them into broader satellite constellations — starting with Spire Global's infrastructure, where Grasp's first space payload was launched in 2023. The technical focus is atmospheric and surface-property retrieval, with an emphasis on air quality monitoring for government and commercial customers.

The company's core offering is Earth observation data and imagery generated from its cubesat constellation, monetized through data sales to government agencies (with NASA and NOAA cited as prospective U.S. federal customers) and to commercial Earth observation buyers. The primary go-to-market motion is enterprise and government field sales, supported by integration with Spire Global as the distribution and infrastructure backbone. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, and no commercial pricing model has been documented in available sources.

Grasp's strategic positioning rests on three pillars: a dual French-American corporate footprint enabling transatlantic government contracting; a focused atmospheric/air-quality niche differentiated from broader imagery providers; and a capital-light payload strategy that leverages third-party satellite buses rather than owning the full constellation stack. The company is early-stage, with €2 million raised in a February 2024 round, 11-50 employees, and operational integration of its French and U.S. entities still maturing.

Name

Grasp

Legal name

Grasp Global

Website

https://grasp-sas.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Grasp is a Franco-American Earth observation company building cubesat payloads for air quality monitoring, serving government agencies (NASA, NOAA) and commercial customers with atmospheric data products delivered via satellite constellations including Spire Global.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Earth Observation Data Services

NAICS

Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing (336414)

SIC

Guided Missiles & Space Vehicles & Parts (3760), Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823)

akta.pro primary industry

Space Payloads & Instruments (Sensors, Comms, EO/IR) (IMABACAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Satellite Imagery & Remote Sensing Geospatial Platforms (BPAMANAM), Spacecraft & Satellites (Civil/Commercial) (IMABACAB)

Keywords

• Earth observation services
• Air quality monitoring
• Satellite data analytics
• Cubesat constellation
• Environmental monitoring

Headquarters

HQ city

Bachy

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Earth Observation Data Services: Sale of Earth observation data and imagery from cubesat constellation for air quality monitoring applications to government and commercial customers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

Grasp develops and deploys proprietary space payloads on cubesat constellations to capture Earth observation data focused on air quality monitoring. The company sells Earth observation imagery and atmospheric data products derived from its cubesat constellation, with the first payload integrated into Spire Global's satellite platform. The merged entity Grasp Global combines French (Grasp SAS) and U.S. (AirPhoton USA) operations to serve government and commercial customers in Europe and the United States.

Product overview

Grasp operates as a unified Earth-observation company combining GRASP SAS (France) and AirPhoton USA (Maryland) through a strategic acquisition. The merged entity, Grasp Global, offers space-based Earth observation services for air quality monitoring through a planned cubesat constellation, with the first space payload deployed via Spire Global. GRASP EARTH serves as the European investment vehicle following a 2 million euro funding round. The company pursues government contracts including opportunities with NASA and NOAA.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Space Payloads for Earth Observation Proprietary space payloads designed for deployment on satellites to capture Earth observation data, with a primary focus on air quality monitoring applications for government and commercial customers.
• Earth Observation Data Services Sale of Earth observation data and imagery from a cubesat constellation, with applications centered on air quality monitoring and environmental observation for government agencies (such as NASA and NOAA) and commercial Earth observation customers.

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Spire GlobalcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2023Grasp prepared to launch its first space payload to Spire Global in early 2023 as part of a broader constellation for detailed Earth observations. Spire Global provides the satellite infrastructure for Grasp's Earth observation payloads.
• AirPhoton USAcoreOthers · 21 October 2022Baltimore-based AirPhoton USA was acquired by French startup Grasp SAS to form Grasp Global. This acquisition enabled Grasp to operate in the U.S. market and pursue government contracts including NASA and NOAA.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Spire Global: Operates a cubesat constellation hosting third-party payloads and provides weather, maritime, and atmospheric data. Most directly comparable as both a constellation operator and Grasp's infrastructure partner, and sells adjacent EO/atmospheric datasets.
• Satellogic: Builds and operates a low-cost cubesat/smallsat EO constellation focused on high-revisit imagery and analytics, including environmental monitoring use cases. Comparable constellation architecture and government-customer focus.
• Planet Labs: Operates the largest commercial cubesat Earth-observation constellation, offering high-cadence imagery and some atmospheric products. Highly comparable business model of large-scale cubesat EO with government and commercial data customers.
• GHGSat: Specializes in satellite-based monitoring of greenhouse-gas emissions and air-quality-related pollutants from its own constellation. Closest direct competitor on the atmospheric/air-quality EO niche that Grasp targets.

Others

• Orbital Insight: Geospatial analytics company applying AI to satellite imagery for environmental, defense, and commercial use cases. Comparable customer overlap with Grasp in government and environmental monitoring segments.
• Descartes Labs: Geospatial analytics platform that ingests multiple satellite data sources for environmental, agricultural, and climate customers. Comparable on the downstream EO analytics layer and similar buyer base, though it does not own satellites.

Emerging players

• Pixxel: Building a hyperspectral cubesat constellation for environmental and agricultural monitoring, including air-quality and climate-related applications. Comparable early-stage space-tech operator targeting specialized EO niches.
• Kayrros: Provides environmental and atmospheric intelligence (notably methane and GHG emissions) by fusing satellite data with other sources. Adjacent on air-quality and emissions monitoring customers and use cases, though not a satellite operator.

Broad incumbents

• Maxar Technologies: Long-established high-resolution EO satellite operator and a major NASA/NOAA supplier. Comparable as an incumbent supplier to the same U.S. government Earth-observation buyers Grasp is pursuing.
• Airbus Defence and Space (Earth Observation): Major European EO prime operating the Copernicus/Sentinel satellites and selling atmospheric and environmental data products. Directly comparable on the EU side as both an incumbent EO provider and a likely bidder against Grasp in European programs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/graspsas
• Facebookfacebook.com/graspsas
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/graspsas

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Grasp