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Instinct

Y Combinator LogoW25
Active
commercial-space-launch
space-exploration
satellites
aerospace
San Francisco
 
https://www.instinct-space.com/

GPS satellites for lunar navigation

Instinct is making satellites to provide GPS navigation to companies landing on or orbiting the moon. By downsizing the current navigation architecture into a cubesat format we can drastically lower both manufacturing and launch costs, allowing for quicker deployments and more resiliency within the system.
Instinct
Founded:2024
Team Size:4
Status:
Active
Location:San Francisco
Group Partner:Aaron Epstein
 
Active Founders

Alex Pinel Neparidze, Founder

Building GPS on the Moon. Co-CEO of Instinct. Graduate in Space Engineering at UCL and Aerospace engineering at QMUL. At Open Cosmos, he worked in project management on the HAMMER and PHISAT-2 Earth observation satellites, both launched in 2024 and now in orbit. Published research on the usage of machine learning for detecting Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory.
Alex Pinel Neparidze
Alex Pinel Neparidze
Instinct
 

Joaquim Dickson, Founder

Building GPS for the moon. Graduate in Physics at Imperial College London and Space Technology at UCL. Worked on the magnetometer (MAG) for NASA's IMAP spacecraft with Imperial's Fluxgate Magnetometer Laboratory. Also worked on the Solar Wind Analyser (SWA) instrument suite aboard ESA's Solar Orbiter spacecraft with UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory.
Joaquim Dickson
Joaquim Dickson
Instinct
 

Ashwin Iyer, Founder

Building GPS on the moon. Ashwin is the co-founder and co-CEO of Instinct. He studied mechanical engineering at QMUL in London and holds a Master in Industrial Systems, Manufacturing and Management from the University of Cambridge. Ashwin has also worked at Imperial College London, doing research on Rolls Royce jet engines as well as undertaken consulting projects as part of a team at Cambridge across a variety of industries including Venture capital, Metalworking and Electronics.
Ashwin Iyer
Ashwin Iyer
Instinct
 

Joe Papworth, Founder

Building GPS for the Moon - VP of Engineering Finished his Masters degree in Space science and engineering at UCL as the team lead of systems engineering design for the Heliosphere Exploration and Interstellar Research Observatory (HERO). Developed a mission concept for permanently shadowed regions in the south lunar pole for In-Situ Resource Utilization and architecture. Completed his BSc in Astrophysics and designed a cost optimized CubeSat constellation deployment strategy with Airbus.
Joe Papworth
Joe Papworth
Instinct
 
Company Launches
Instinct: GPS satellites for the Moon
See original launch post ›

Hi! We’re Ashwin, Alex, Joaquim and Joe from Instinct and we’re building a satellite constellation for navigation on and around the moon.

The Problem

Everything on earth from cars to planes to Starship relies on our network of GNSS satellites. In cislunar space, however, rockets, satellites, rovers and landers have no analogue to GPS with which to determine their position during high-risk operations, and this lack of navigation architecture has led to over $350 million in losses to commercial space providers and government agencies over the last 5 years. A growing global space race to exploit the Moon's resources, with over 450 planned lunar missions over the next 8 years, means this lack of a GPS analogue on the Moon could cost Moon-bound companies billions over the next decade.

Our Solution

We’re miniaturizing GNSS satellite architecture to fit into a CubeSat format, massively decreasing manufacturing and launch costs from the current $250m per satellite to less than $5m. We plan to launch our first 4 satellites into lunar orbit by the end of next year, providing partial coverage over the lunar south pole and expanding to full coverage over the next few years.

https://youtu.be/bpj0IgmkNhM

We’re currently building the Baseline Orbital Ranging Device (BORD), our technology demonstrator CubeSat, which we’re launching into Low Earth Orbit later this year for in-orbit testing of our navigation payload.

The Team

Alex and Ashwin met during their undergraduate degrees where they founded their university’s rocketry society. Alex met Joaquim and Joe at UCL where they studied Space Science and Engineering, while Ashwin studied Industrial Systems, Manufacturing and Management at the University of Cambridge. The team has previous experience working on the NASA IMAP mission, the ESA Solar Orbiter mission and on various CubeSats at Open Cosmos in the UK.

The Ask

  • Feedback: Please feel free to reach out with any advice, questions or insights on either the space or navigation industries!
  • Connections: We’re currently getting in touch with companies in the Commercial Lunar Payload Services so If you have any connections with any of those companies we’d love to have a chat!