Space startup SpinLaunch has selected Equinix to host its ground station infrastructure.

The satellite firm this week announced it will use the colocation giant’s facilities to support the former’s upcoming Meridian Space low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation.

SpinLaunch said its 1D scanning toroidal antenna deployments occupy a footprint of roughly 90 square meters – a “fraction” of the size of conventional ground stations, according to the company – and can be located on rooftops, at data centers, and other existing sites more quickly and cheaply than traditional ground infrastructure.

“Selecting Equinix as the foundation for our global ground segment marks a critical milestone for SpinLaunch,” said Massi Ladovaz, CEO of SpinLaunch. “By working with Equinix, we’ve solved a core challenge in deploying global LEO infrastructure: securing scalable, reliable gateway sites across key regions – by placing our teleports directly within the world’s most connected data center ecosystem. It also brings real value to our customers by enabling secure, sovereign data pathways and seamless integration with enterprise and cloud networks - a foundational step toward a more resilient and connected satcom ecosystem.”

SpinLaunch has begun the selection process for its inaugural teleport, where a gateway will be installed to connect its First Customer Link (FCL) satellite. The company said this first site will serve as a demonstration of SpinLaunch’s gateway technology and establish a reference architecture for future global expansion.

Founded in 2014, SpinLaunch aims to send satellites into orbit using kinetic mass accelerator technology, potentially offering a cheaper way to send payloads to orbit. The idea is to use electromagnets to accelerate a robotic arm and payload within a vacuum and then slingshot it with enough momentum to reach the upper atmosphere, from where rockets would take over.

At the same time, the California-based company is aiming to develop its own low-Earth orbit satellite broadband constellation, known as Meridian Space. The firm's satellite fleet will comprise more than 250 70kg microsatellites that, at full network build-out, will be able to offer “dozens of terabits per second of global capacity,” according to the company.

SpinLaunch is partnering with its investor Kongsberg for the Meridian fleet.

Amid the rapid proliferation of new satellites in low and medium Earth orbits, companies are growing their ground infrastructure to support their new fleets.

Incumbent operators such as SES, Globalstar, Telesat, and Eutelsat are building out ground stations at various sites globally, while newer players such as SpaceX's Starlink, Amazon Leo, and Blue Origin are also building out at existing teleports and developing new sites.