Australian company Terram Astra has announced a US$10 million seed capital raise to activate a new sovereign ground‑based infrastructure platform designed to strengthen defence readiness, space safety, and communications resilience across the Indo‑Pacific. The platform integrates two initial capabilities – SHOT Comms, a sovereign optical and Radio Frequency satellite communications network, and Orbit DRAM, a ground‑based orbital debris mitigation and monitoring system – co‑located at secure purpose built hubs.
Terram Astra Chief Executive Officer Sean Thomas said the company is responding to urgent and growing capability gaps. “Australia and our allies are facing accelerating risks across congested orbits, fragile subsea cables, and a shortage of sovereign test and training infrastructure,” he said. “Terram Astra delivers scalable, ground‑based solutions that directly address these vulnerabilities.”
Terram Astra’s first hub, located near Alice Springs, will provide shared power, fibre, security, and operations for multiple mission‑critical services. The inland location offers hardened resilience, persistent clear skies, and sovereign control.”
Thomas said the platform is designed for long‑term strategic relevance. “This is infrastructure built to operate for decades. It cannot be interdicted offshore, it cannot be switched off by foreign operators, and it provides assured access for Australian and allied government or commercial missions. The Defence, government and private sectors need a sovereign continuity layer for communications and SHOT Comms delivers that layer with deterministic performance and national control – this is a national vulnerability. Orbital debris is also a strategic risk and regulatory imperative – Orbit DRAM provides a scalable, sovereign mitigation capability aligned with emerging regulatory and insurer requirements.”
After receiving significant interest from prospective clients in the United States, Japan and other allied nations, Terram Astra has launched a seed round to raise funds that will operationalise the platform.
“This is an exciting phase for Terram Astra as we progress to activate the first Central Australian hub, deploy initial SHOT Comms and Orbit DRAM systems, secure early defence, government, and commercial customers and underwrite a future Series A expansion in 2027,” Thomas said. “Terram Astra offers early exposure to sovereign, dual-use ground infrastructure at the intersection of space safety, communications resilience, and defence readiness – built to scale. Terram Astra is execution-ready – seed capital enables the translation of validated demand into first-of-kind. long-life, dual-use infrastructure and initial customers, with clear pathways to scale. This seed round offers a rare opportunity for investors aligned with sovereign capability and AUKUS Pillar II priorities, that will service a sustained demand from Australian and international clients. Once operational, Terram Astra plans to expand its capabilities to offer Wallis STARR – an all-domains and commercially accessible training, testing, and research range for autonomous and emerging technologies. We’re inviting strategic investors who want to help build the sovereign backbone Australia and allies will rely on.”
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