Observable Space, the space-tech outfit formed from the merger of PlaneWave Instruments and OurSky, is steering new federal money and fresh venture capital straight into Detroit. After landing a major U.S. Space Force award and closing a sizable funding round, the company says it will ramp up manufacturing in the city to build out its optical and laser hardware.
Observable Space has closed a $90 million Series A led by Lux Capital, according to Bloomberg Law. The company also announced it secured an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with the U.S. Space Force worth up to $94 million and has already received about $22 million in initial task orders to begin scaling a distributed optical-telescope network, per Payload.
Observable Space emerged when optics manufacturer PlaneWave Instruments combined with software startup OurSky, creating a vertically integrated operation that marries hardware, software, and a Michigan-based manufacturing footprint. In a February 2025 statement, the company said that the approach is meant to make telescopes easier to operate and mass-produce, a shift CEO Dan Roelker described as "creating the Tesla of telescopes," according to PlaneWave.
Manufacturing push in Detroit
Company officials say the Series A cash and the Space Force award will bankroll an expansion of manufacturing capacity in Detroit, with some production and assembly shifting closer to a skilled Midwestern supply chain. Observable Space is slated to appear at Detroit's Reindustrialize summit in June alongside the U.S. Space Force and Detroit Venture Partners, a move that amounts to a public recruiting pitch to local talent and suppliers, per Payload.
What the contract covers
The award is structured as an IDIQ contract under the Pentagon's APFIT effort, which is designed to speed up procurement of innovative space sensing and communications technology. The setup lets the Space Force place task orders as systems move from prototype to full production. Procurement notices and pre-solicitations tied to deployable optical systems show agencies using APFIT and similar IDIQ vehicles to move mobile telescope and sensor packages into the field more quickly, according to listings on GovTribe.
Local jobs and the supply chain
Observable Space already runs a manufacturing campus in Michigan and employs roughly 100 people, according to earlier company materials, and its expansion into Detroit is aimed at plugging into the region's deep bench of advanced manufacturing talent. Local coverage in Crain's Detroit Business reports that the company intends to scale production in the city, though neither officials nor the company has disclosed specific job targets or a Detroit facility address.
For Detroit, Observable Space's decision is another data point in the city's shift from strictly auto-centric production to broader advanced manufacturing. Federal procurement dollars paired with venture capital backing create a clearer pathway from prototype to production for optics and laser systems, a combination that business boosters hope will bring more skilled, precision manufacturing work back into the city, per Investing.com.
