Leaf Space

Leaf Space S.p.A. is an Italian ground-segment-as-a-service (GSaaS) provider that operates a globally distributed network of radio-frequency and optical ground stations for satellite operators. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Lomazzo, Lombardy, the company supports more than 100 spacecraft with pay-as-you-go connectivity, autonomous pass-scheduling software, and per-minute pricing.^[1]

Leaf Space S.p.A.

Company type	Private
Industry	Ground Segment as a Service (GSaaS)
Founded	2014
Founders	Jonata Puglia, Giovanni Pandolfi Bortoletto, Michele Messina, Matteo Boiocchi
Key people	Cristina Zanchi (CEO) Jonata Puglia (Board Member) Giovanni Pandolfi Bortoletto (CSO) Gian Luca Ottino (CFO)
Website	leaf.space

History

Leaf Space was established in 2014 by four aerospace-engineering graduates—Jonata Puglia, Giovanni Pandolfi Bortoletto, Michele Messina and Matteo Boiocchi—who initially built their first S-band antenna in a garage near Milan.^[2] Originally focusing on the launch market, Leaf Space instead decided to build a ground network due to the difficulty to receive funding for a new launcher in Italy.^[3]

In March 2021, the company announced plans to open a U.S. office to serve government and commercial customers.^[4]

Operations milestones

Date	Monthly Passes	Satellites Supported	Notes
June 2021			Supported 14 satellites from six customers on SpaceX's Transporter-2 mission.[5]
February 2022			Supported 13 satellites on SpaceX's Transporter-3 mission.[6]
March 2023	10,000[7]	80[7]
September 2024	15,000[8]		An increase of 50 percent over the year.[8]
July 2025		140[9]	Supported 20 satellites on SpaceX's Transporter-14 mission, 28 percent of the total.[9]
November 2025	22,000[1]	171[10]	Supported 31 satellites on SpaceX's Transporter-15 mission, 30 percent of the total.[10]

Funding and investors

Date	Round	Amount	Lead / notable investors
July 2023	Series B	€20m equity + €15m EIB venture debt	CDP Venture Capital, Neva SGR, SIMEST, Digital Transition Fund, RedSeed Ventures, Primo Space, Whysol Investments[7]
January 2021	Series A	€5m	Whysol Investments (€2m), Primo Ventures (€2m), RedSeed Ventures (€1m)[11]
September 2015	Pre-series seed & grants	€5m[11]	EU programmes and Italian VC funds[2]

Services and technology

The company's flagship service, Leaf Line, offers fully managed TT&C and payload downlink through an API interface, combined with smart scheduler that aids satellite operators in allocating the satellite passes.^[12] Leaf Line supports S-band, X-band, and Ka-band operations. Dedicated antennas for specific use case frequencies are marketed under Leaf Key.

Ground-station network

• Coverage – 36 ground stations across 19 sites across the world as of October 2025.^[13]
• Bands and specs – S-band uplink (2025–2110 MHz), S-band downlink, X-band downlink to 1.2 Gbps, Ka-band to 6 Gbps; limited UHF support.^[12]
• Expansion – 6 additional antennas are currently planned as of November 2025.^[12]

Antennas of the Leaf Line Network

Site	Antennas	Frequencies	Status	Notes
La Paz, Mexico	2	S-X	Active
Santiago, Chile	3	S-X	Active
Punta Arenas, Chile	3	S-X, S-X-Ka	Active	Supports rideshare LEOP campaigns like SpaceX’s Transporter missions where multiple satellites are launched together and required a timely support to initiate first communication with Earth. [14]
Blönduós, Iceland	3	S-X, S-X-Ka	Active
Santa Maria, Azores, Portugal	3	S-X	Active	Provides additional capacity for SSO orbits[15]. In collaboration with Edisoft[16]
Shetland, United Kingdom	2	S-X, S	Active	Boosts capacity for sun-synchronous and mid-inclination orbits [5]
Montsec, Spain	2	S-X	Active
Plana, Bulgaria	1	S-X	Active
Pretoria, South Africa	2	S-X	Active
Absheron, Azerbaijan	2	S-X	Active	In collaboration with Azercosmos[17]
Mon Loisir, Mauritius	1	S-X	Active
Peterborough, Australia	1	S-X	Active
Awarua, New Zealand	3	S-X-Ka	Active	At Awarua SGS teleport[18]
Nangetty, West Australia	2	S-X	Active	In collaboration with Capricorn Space, delivers more capacity from the southern hemisphere to address increasing clients demand over that area[19]
Jeju, South Korea	1	S-X	Active
Kandy, Sri Lanka	1	S-X	Active	Provids capabilities in the equatorial orbit for the first time [5]
Maui, Hawaii	1	S-X	Planned
Utqiagvik, Alaska	1	S-X-Ka	Planned
Talkeetna, Alaska	1	S-X	Planned
Canso, Nova Scotia, Canada	1	S-X	Planned	In collaboration with Maritime Launch Services[20]
Al Ain, United Arab Emirates	1	S-X	Planned
Longwood, St Helena	1	S-X	Planned
Kaunas, Lithuania			No longer operational	Second Antenna[21]. No longer included on Leaf Space website.
Puertollano, Spain			No longer operational	Third Antenna[22]. In collaboration with Deimos Imaging[23]. No longer included on Leaf Space website.
Cork, Ireland			No longer operational	Fourth Antenna[24]. No longer included on Leaf Space website.
Italy			No longer operational	Included on Leaf Space map in 2021[5]. No longer included on Leaf Space website.

Partnerships and MoUs

• Smallspark Space Systems – MoU with UK-based research, development, and innovation company Smallspark Space Systems to deliver joint bids for projects with the UK Government and other commercial operators in the UK (July 2020).^[25]
• Agnikul – MoU with India-based launch service company Agnikul for the provisioning of ground segment services for their Agnibaan rocket, and provide packaged ground segment support for their customers (July 2020).^[26]
• CYSEC – MoU with Switzerland-based cyber security company CYSEC to deliver end-to-end cyber security protection covering the ground station network and the mission control software (August 2020).^[27]
• Odysseus Space – Partnership with Taiwan-based Odysseus Space to apply the CYCLOPS optical communications solution to develop a hybrid ground station network for both optical and radio frequency (RF) communications (October 2021).^[28]
• Infostellar – MoU with Tokyo-based Infostellar to integrate with Infostellar's StellarStation and for Infostellar to be the exclusive representative of Leaf Space to the Japanese market (October 2025).^[13]

See also

• Kongsberg Satellite Services