NUVIEW wins $5M Pentagon funding boost for orbital LiDAR project
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 01, 2025

NUVIEW has secured an additional $5 million award from the Department of Defense's National Security Innovation Capital program to accelerate development of its space-based LiDAR technology. The funding follows earlier NSIC investment and supports the company's mission to deliver high-resolution, three-dimensional mapping of Earth from orbit.

The award will allow NUVIEW to rapidly prototype its next-generation LiDAR payload, advancing toward the first operational commercial system. This hardware forms the basis of a planned satellite constellation designed to provide continuous, high-precision 3D data for defense, civil, and commercial users worldwide.

U.S. defense agencies have emphasized the growing importance of commercial sensing tools, with LiDAR recognized as a key capability for intelligence, security, and scientific applications. NUVIEW's new funding positions it to respond directly to those needs while ensuring U.S. leadership in orbital LiDAR development.

"This NSIC award marks an inflection point for NUVIEW and the future of Earth observation," said Clint Graumann, CEO of NUVIEW.

"As Senator Rick Scott emphasized on the Senate floor in July 2024, the Department of Defense must prevent the procurement of Chinese LiDAR and support efforts to enhance U.S. commercial space-based LiDAR capabilities. At the same time, agencies such as the NRO have signaled the growing importance of commercial sensing technologies like LiDAR for national security.

"This award enables NUVIEW to advance our payloads in direct response to those priorities, while simultaneously opening new commercial markets for global 3D data. Our constellation will provide an unprecedented capability: high-resolution, three-dimensional mapping of the entire Earth at scale."

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