Founders Lab Space Career Academy
Now Accepting Cohort 3 Applications

Build the Next
AI-Powered
Space Company

The only accelerator built exclusively for AI founders and startups redefining the space industry. From launch logistics to Earth observation, autonomous systems to on-orbit services.

200+
Sessions Taken
50+
Cities Reached

Founders Lab is not a general accelerator. We back founders using AI to reshape how humanity creates, tells stories, and experiences the cosmos from the studio to the stars.

🎬
AI in Entertainment
You're building AI-native tools and platforms that transform how film, TV, gaming, and immersive experiences are conceived, produced, and distributed at scale.
AI × Creativity
You're turning AI into a creative collaborator powering generative storytelling, world-building, interactive narrative, and tools that give creators superpowers they never had before.
🎞️
Post-Production & AI
You're automating and elevating the post pipeline AI-driven VFX, colour grading, audio mixing, editing workflows, and on-set intelligence that collapses production timelines.
📡
Streaming in Space with AI
You're solving the last-mile content problem for orbital habitats, deep-space missions, and off-grid populations using AI to compress, adapt, and deliver media wherever humans go next.
🛰️
Deep-Tech AI Founders
You're building AI models for satellite data, autonomous spacecraft, or real-time space situational awareness. You need domain-expert mentors, not generic startup advice.
🧠
Space-AI Infrastructure
You're building the picks and shovels edge AI for space hardware, on-board processing, or the software layers that make the entire ecosystem smarter and more connected.
🧱

Our Cohort Turns Conversations into Building Blocks

Every session, every mentor call, every late-night debate inside this cohort compounds. We don't just share knowledge we architect it into tangible assets: frameworks, prototypes, partnerships, and fundable companies. What starts as a conversation becomes the foundation you build on.

Every founder is placed in the track that best matches their technology and market giving you targeted curriculum, the right mentors, and relevant investor intros.

🌐
Geospatial AI
EO, SAR, multispectral data turning space-based sensors into actionable intelligence with ML pipelines.
Autonomous Systems
AI-driven GNC, on-orbit robotics, autonomous inspection, and rendezvous & proximity operations.
🎬
AI × Entertainment
Post-production AI, streaming infrastructure, creative tooling, and content platforms for the next era of media.
🔩
AI-Enabled Hardware
Smart subsystems, edge inference on-orbit, AI-assisted manufacturing for space components.
🌱
Climate & Sustainability
Using space + AI to monitor emissions, deforestation, ocean health, and disaster response at global scale.

An intensive 12-week program with the infrastructure, connections, and capital access that space AI founders actually need.

01

Hands-On AI & Space Curriculum

Workshops on satellite data pipelines, on-orbit AI deployment, edge inference, and mission-critical software architecture taught by practitioners, not professors.

02

120+ Industry Mentors

Direct access to engineers from NASA, SpaceX, Airbus, Planet Labs, and leading AI labs plus investors who specialize in new-space and deep-tech.

03

Investor Demo Day

Present to 200+ VCs, angels, and government procurement officers who are actively deploying capital into space and AI-driven ventures.

04

Cloud & Compute Credits

Up to $250K in cloud credits from AWS, Google Cloud, and NVIDIA plus access to real satellite datasets and simulation environments.

05

Government & Institutional Pathways

Dedicated track to help you navigate NASA SBIR, ESA BIC, DoD AFWERX, and commercial contracts that can fund your first major milestones.

12-Week Program Structure

Cohort 3 · Starts June 2026 · Remote-first with in-person intensives

🎯
Weeks 1–2: Foundation Sprint

Validate your AI + space thesis, sharpen ICP, define the technical moat.

🔬
Weeks 3–5: Product & Tech Deep-Dive

Architecture reviews, data pipeline builds, and customer discovery with real operators.

📈
Weeks 6–8: Go-to-Market Acceleration

Pricing, contracts, government pathways, and first-revenue playbooks.

💰
Weeks 9–11: Fundraising Ready

Pitch deck, data room, term-sheet workshops, and warm investor introductions.

🚀
Week 12: Demo Day

Live pitch to 200+ investors and media. Press kit and post-program follow-on support.

Founders Lab connected us with investors who actually get the space-AI space. The quality of introductions was unlike anything we'd experienced people who understood our technology from the first conversation.

The sessions were genuinely high-quality no fluff, just practitioners who've built in this space sharing what actually works. And the investor network they opened up was the real deal.

What stood out was the caliber of people in the room both the mentors and the other founders. Every session pushed our thinking further. The investor connections alone made it worth every hour.

Do I need a working product to apply?
No. We accept founders at the idea stage through to early-revenue. What matters is the strength of your AI + space thesis and the caliber of your founding team.
Is this remote or in-person?
The program is remote-first with three in-person intensives: Kickoff Week (Houston, TX), Mid-Program Workshop, and Demo Day. Travel grants are available.
Does Space Career Academy take equity?
Yes. Founders Lab takes a small equity stake in participating companies in exchange for the program, mentorship network, and investor access we provide.
What is the time commitment?
Expect to invest 15–20 hours per week. The program is intensive by design founders who treat it like a side project rarely get the full value.
Can international founders apply?
Yes. We welcome founders from any country. Cohort 2 had founders from 14 nations. Visa support is available for in-person intensives.
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