# Oligo Space

> Oligo Space is a Hawthorne, California startup building an AI-first stack for designing and manufacturing payload-centered spacecraft. Its software engine, Zenith, turns raw mission requirements into flight-ready ESPA-class spacecraft using generative design, constraint solving and physics-based optimization - compressing work that once took teams of specialists months into a process that runs in minutes and manufactures in under eight months. Founded in 2024 by MIT AeroAstro graduate and former NASA JPL engineer Jacob Rodriguez, the company plans to fly its first spacecraft, Chimera-1, aboard SpaceX's Transporter-15 mission in 2026.

- **Founded:** 2024
- **Headquarters:** Hawthorne, California, United States
- **Founders:** Jacob Rodriguez (Founder & CEO)
- **Team size:** ~18 employees
- **Products:** Zenith, Mission Configurator, ESPA-class platforms, Chimera-1
- **Notable:** Won an AI prize at the Imagination in Action AI Summit, sharing a $25,000 award and receiving up to $350,000 in cloud credits., Accepted into NVIDIA's Inception program., Booked its first spacecraft, Chimera-1, onto a SpaceX Transporter rideshare mission within roughly two years of founding.

## Products & services

- **Zenith** — An automated spacecraft design engine that uses generative design, constraint solving and physics-based optimization to synthesize optimal spacecraft configurations programmatically in minutes rather than months.
- **Mission Configurator** — A web-based tool that lets customers define mission requirements and payload needs, then generates a spacecraft configuration and a quote within one business day.
- **ESPA-class platforms** — Modular, scalable standardized spacecraft buses centered on the customer's payload, designed for LEO, MEO, GEO, and lunar or interplanetary missions.
- **Chimera-1** — Oligo's first spacecraft - a roughly 100 kg platform slated to launch on SpaceX's Transporter-15 mission in 2026, carrying commercial payloads from customers including Melagen Labs and Spacedock.

## Achievements

- Won an AI prize at the Imagination in Action AI Summit, sharing a $25,000 award and receiving up to $350,000 in cloud credits.
- Accepted into NVIDIA's Inception program.
- Booked its first spacecraft, Chimera-1, onto a SpaceX Transporter rideshare mission within roughly two years of founding.
- Raised seed funding from notable investors including Kakao Ventures, Lux Capital and Soma Capital.
- Founder named a Thiel Fellow, 776 Fellow and Matthew Isakowitz Fellow.

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — Oligo Space publicly detailed its Zenith design engine and Mission Configurator, advertising one-business-day quotes and sub-eight-month builds.
- **2025-09** — Featured in Forbes coverage of Silicon Valley AI projects after winning an AI summit prize; described as building a manufacturing-in-the-loop foundation model for spacecraft.
- **2025-05** — Closed seed funding with participation from Kakao Ventures, Lux Capital, Soma Capital and others.
- **2026-06** — Chimera-1, Oligo's first ~100 kg spacecraft, targeted to launch on SpaceX's Transporter-15 mission carrying payloads from Melagen Labs and Spacedock.

## Links

- Website: https://oligo.space
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/oligo-space

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/oligo-space
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-03