About the Company

Established in 2021

Caltech LogoContinuum Space Systems (Continuum) is a Software-as-a-Service for space startup launched from the Mandala Space Ventures studio in Pasadena, CA. The service is based, in part, on technologies licensed from California Institute of Technology (Caltech), which is the parent company of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a NASA field center for robotic exploration of space. The total funding invested in the development of these tools, exceeds $40-50M by NASA over multiple decades. These tools are flight proven and are what NASA/JPL use to design and navigate missions across our Solar System. Indeed, Caltech is an equity holder in Continuum at 3% of founding shares. The technical team of Continuum also comes from JPL and has relevant experience gained on missions including Cassini at Saturn, Europa Clipper, missions to the Moon, Mars, Earth constellations and more. Continuum has also developed unique, internal IP to glue these tools together into a common, Enterprise software platform. The currently offered services are focused on Space Mission Ideation & Design, Navigation, Trajectory Optimization and more. 

 

Mission

To accelerate space exploration for the benefit of humanity. We provide ‘picks & shovels’ to the emerging space entrepreneurs.



Vision

Our vision is to provide today’s space operators with better tools and technology that reduce the inefficiencies commonly found in planning, designing and executing space missions. We aim to serve the growing space industry by enabling teams to focus on their core competencies and advance the potential of space exploration and commercialization.

Values

Meet the Team

Dr. Leon Alkalai

CO-FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Mandala Space Ventures was founded in 2021 by Dr. Leon Alkalai, a 31-year veteran and Fellow at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology….

Dr. Loic Chappaz

CO-FOUNDER & CTO

Loic is a specialist in Mission Design – Trajectory Design and Optimization – Constellation Design. Loic leads the development of Continuum’s platform and also served as Principal Engineer at Mandala Space Ventures…

Steve Armstrong

Director of Engineering

Steve is a specialist in Mission Operations – C2 system Architecture – and Operations Automation.  Steve leads engineering operations at Continuum. 

Niharika Patel

Technical Project Manager

Niharika Patel is a versatile professional with a background in project management and space mission design. In her current role she is responsible in managing the product lifecycle, from discovery to delivery.

Sameer Talnikar

Flight System Engineer Lead

Sameer is a Spacecraft Design & Systems Engineer – Mechanical Design. Sameer has been leading the spacecraft design systems for Continuum’s platform, previously with his role with Mandala Space Ventures.

Matt Dow

Space Systems and 3D

Matt is a specialist in data visualization for aerospace systems and orbital dynamics. Matt’s focus is the 2D and 3D visualization of any mission data from the very beginning of the mission design process…

Rachael Collins

Senior Software Engineer

Rachael is a Full-Stack Software Engineer with expertise in providing software solutions that automate and abstract away space mission complexity. Rachael leads the software development at Continuum

Emily Doughty

Flight Dynamics Engineer Lead

Emily specializes in space mission design with a focus on trajectory optimization.  Emily leads the flight dynamics team at Continuum to provide customers with personalized mission design consultation through software development.

Chandler Clemons

Finance & Data Science

Chandler oversees Finance and Data Science. A trained econometrician and data scientist, Chandler focuses on helping founders successfully bring their ideas to market through both technical development…