Gimbal Space Challenges Traditional Vendors through Accelerated Supply Chain for Components

The American space sector appears well-developed, yet the backbone – the supply chain that furnishes every rocket, satellite, and spacecraft with necessary parts and components – reveals a stark immaturity. Gimbal Space has set its sights on revolutionizing this arena, starting with the critical subsystem responsible for spacecraft orientation in space, promising lower costs and significantly reduced delivery times.

Behind this endeavor is Dhaval Shiyani, a mechanical engineer whose career spans scaling sophisticated hardware systems. His journey took him to Tesla in 2017, where he played a pivotal role in ramping up Model 3 production at the Fremont facility from 50 to 5,000 units weekly within six months. His next venture was with Ethicon, part of the Johnson & Johnson family, focusing on the design of high-volume medical devices, stressing the importance of 100% reliability in component manufacturing and testing, a daunting task given the volume reaches a million components.

Shiyani’s insights into high-volume manufacturing, rapid business growth, and scaling operations were honed during his tenure at Tesla. 

His transition into the space sector occurred as he joined Apollo Fusion, an electric propulsion venture. CEO Mike Cassidy enlisted his expertise to advance a prototype thruster from laboratory to production stage, achieving cost reductions and part count decreases by assuming control over certain component designs. Following Apollo Fusion’s acquisition by Astra, Shiyani contributed to a pioneering team tasked with a 13,000-satellite constellation project. His pathway then led to Planet, an Earth imaging organization, to assist in developing their next-generation imaging satellite, Pelican.

Throughout his space industry experience, Shiyani consistently faced challenges related to part procurement: prohibitive costs, lengthy lead times, and a supply chain maturity gap, with many components not yet standardized. He attributes these issues to a lack of focus, momentum, and strategy among established suppliers.

Shiyani points out, “These components and their subsystems, often seen as secondary revenue sources, allow suppliers to impose significant premiums. This results in an extremely rewarding, high-margin business avenue they have little reason to disrupt by offering faster or more affordable solutions.”

Gimbal initially targets the attitude determination and control system (ADCS), which includes precision-demanding components like star trackers, reaction wheels, and torque rods, with plans to extend its offerings to other ADCS elements such as magnetometers, sun sensors, and rate sensors.

Key ADCS component providers in North America include industry giants like Honeywell, Blue Canyon Technologies (an RTX company), and Rocket Lab, following its purchase of Sinclair Interplanetary. With suppliers varying in specialization from large to micro-components, the market remains notably segmented, a phenomenon Shiyani remarks without singling out any particular supplier.

According to Shiyani, suppliers generally show little interest or incentive to reduce prices as a competitive strategy. “The negotiation margin is slim. Although scaling operations may yield some benefits, it doesn’t equate to significant pricing leverage,” he observes.

Moreover, the industry is plagued by slow lead times, spanning months to years, a scenario untenable for startups monitoring monthly expenses closely. Gimbal challenges this norm by proposing to halve lead times and cut costs by 25-30%, partly by shifting some manufacturing processes to India.

Gimbal has already partnered with a proficient manufacturing entity in India, with a director positioned in the country to guide this initiative. Initially, Gimbal plans to use contract manufacturing in both India and the U.S., with ambitions to eventually develop its manufacturing framework.

The young company has secured $1.2 million in funding, led by Abu Dhabi’s AUM Ventures, with contributions from Shakti VC, Z21 Ventures, among others. This capital injection is earmarked for launching Gimbal’s components into orbit, expanding the team, and enhancing manufacturing capabilities. Gimbal aims to have its components ready before year-end, anticipating the first flight to follow shortly thereafter.