US ground station startup Northwood has launched a new family of antennas.. The company this week announced it is launching its Prism family of antennas, including the Portal phased array. Manufactured at its new factory, the new line offers accelerated throughput capacity and will help the company reach its goal of achieving more than 10 gigabits per second at each ground station where its antennas operate.. – Northwood Space.
“As more of our economy moves to orbit, we need to design networking that meets or beats terrestrial performance,” Northwood CEO Bridget Mendler wrote on X. “Prism is designed for the next step in expectations around throughput, latency, and reliability. This is true industrialization of space networks.”.
The 2.4-meter Prism parabolic antenna is optimized for high data volumes for enterprise backhaul, direct-to-device, and space compute using a novel technique to combine antenna units to reach higher power levels.. Prism covers S-, X-, and Ka-bands with higher frequencies on the horizon.
Prism uses a standardized form factor to be deployed quickly with “Lego brick” ease, with a lower lifecycle cost compared to other parabolics.. In a recent deployment, Prism was reportedly unboxed, assembled, and functioning as expected within three and a half hours, according to Mendler..
Portal is Northwood’s modular phased array system, optimized for space connectivity, dynamically maneuvering between satellites to operate continuously.. Both are being manufactured at Northwood’s 35,000 sq ft (3,250 sqm) facility in Torrence, California, designed to produce more than 100 antennas annually at full capacity.
The facility uses in-house firmware and software, a verticalization that facilitates faster RF and software interaction.. Founded in 2024, Northwood’s service statement was to disrupt the satellite ground station market. Founded by Disney Channel alum and popstar Bridgit Mendler, the company closed a $100 million Series B in January this year, co-led by Washington Harbour Partners and a16z, following a $30mn Series A in 2025..
“[The Series B] really reflects…a lot of activity and progress on the Northwood side that reflects the importance of ground as an enabler for pushing forward more capable missions on shorter timelines,” Mendler said at a virtual media roundtable at the time.. Since then, the company has deployed a beta network of 14 antennas across five sites today, with another 13 sites across eight countries currently underway.
Northwood seeks to sustain 10Gbps+ global coverage at each ground station.. Northwood intends to more than double its link capacity and site footprint by the end of 2027, with 100+ capable sites positioned in high-demand regions. The company sees itself on a trajectory toward aggregate capacity comparable to the largest terrestrial internet exchange points (20Tbps+) by 2028, and hopes to continue scaling..
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