HELSINKI — A Chinese startup building a constellation to detect and geolocate radio-frequency emissions from orbit has closed a funding round as China’s commercial sector expands.

Tianjin-based Xingkan Jiuzhou Technology, using the English name StarRF, announced Aug. 21 that it completed a Pre-A+ funding round led by Shandong state-owned investor Luxin Venture Capital, alongside Tianqi Capital and Haitang Fund. Existing investor Junyuan Capital also participated. The amount was not disclosed.

StarRF, founded in November 2023, is building a low Earth orbit constellation called “Diting” to monitor electromagnetic spectrum activity across land and sea, developing proprietary technology for radio signal reception, demodulation, analysis and transmitter geolocation. The new funding will go toward research and development, market expansion and team building, the announcement said.

The business model places StarRF in the same commercial niche as U.S. and European firms such as HawkEye 360, BAE’s Azalea and Unseenlabs, which operate constellations that detect and triangulate RF emitters for applications spanning maritime domain awareness to GPS jamming detection. Junyuan Capital, in a portfolio update following the round, went further, stating that StarRF will use three-satellite formation flying for space-based RF data collection and analysis. The three-satellite geolocation method also echoes China’s own Yaogan triplets, groups of satellites long assessed by open-source analysts as electronic intelligence assets flown by the People’s Liberation Army in triangular formation to detect and geolocate radio emissions from naval vessels, a technique similar to the U.S. Naval Ocean Surveillance System (NOSS).

Junyuan Capital also stated that the company has been dubbed “China’s HawkEye 360” within the industry. At least two of its investors have used this comparison. HawkEye 360, which went public in May, reported record international revenue of $21 million in the second quarter, up 134% year-over-year, with international customers making up about 42% of its $49.8 million in quarterly revenue. The company has disclosed more than $100 million in recent international awards, including work on a European electronic-warfare program and a multiyear contract supporting the Indian Navy.

StarRF’s backers, by contrast, have said less about revenue or named customers but stated a strategic rationale for investing. Junyuan said the constellation’s data products are aimed at radio spectrum management, maritime and shipping, public security, safety and railway sectors, while an earlier Pre-A round announcement cited “public and national defense security” as a use case.

The investor makeup for this early round somewhat follows a pattern in China’s commercial space sector, indicating backing from capital linked to provincial government, and appears absent of any strategic investment from state-owned space and defense giants CASC and CASIC. Luxin Venture Capital is tied to Shandong province’s state-owned asset system, while an earlier-round backer, Haihe Fund, carries a Tianjin-linked name, suggesting StarRF’s growth is being driven at least partly by regional industrial policy. 

Such policies have strengthened following clear indications of the strategic importance of commercial space by China’s central government. The local support and the clear business case statements suggest Beijing is allowing investment in space-based RF sensing, alongside established remote sensing, communications and space computing sectors. StarRF did not disclose a timeline for the Diting constellation’s first launches or a clear constellation size.

Related