Spacecific
Dutch RF localization startup (Nijmegen, founded 2024). Spinoff from Radboud Radio Lab via the REXUS sounding-rocket programme. Flagship product Track Your Rocket (TYR) provides GPS-independent localization for sounding rockets using distributed phased-array interferometry in the ISM band. Secondary feasibility-stage product Spacecific Localization System (SLS) targets indoor RF device tracking. Partners include T-Minus Engineering, Radboud Radio Lab, Lumiad, and Oost NL.
Spacecific B.V. is a Dutch deep-tech startup founded in Nijmegen and spun out of the Radboud Radio Lab at Radboud University. The company applies signal-processing methods from radio astronomy to the problem of tracking sounding rockets during flight without relying on GPS.[^spacecific-website][^ru-article]
Its flagship product, Track Your Rocket (TYR), is a ground-based localization system that deploys portable receiver stations equipped with digital phased arrays around a launch site. Each sounding rocket carries a compact RF transmitter in the license-free ISM band; the ground stations capture and synchronize these signals to reconstruct the rocket's trajectory, orientation, and dynamics in real time. The method mirrors distributed interferometric array techniques used in radio astronomy, enabling the system to operate without cloud infrastructure and in remote, infrastructure-limited environments. TYR completed two documented field tests in 2025: a May 2025 validation with Dutch sounding rocket manufacturer T-Minus Engineering, and a September 2025 deployment during a student team launch organized by DARE at TU Delft.[^spacecific-tyr-page]
Beyond sounding rocket tracking, Spacecific has explored applying the same RF localization approach indoors under the name Spacecific Localization System (SLS), targeting security applications in laboratories, chemical facilities, and other environments where the presence of mobile wireless devices must be monitored or restricted. This application line received a Gelderland MIT feasibility grant in 2023 and remains at the study stage.[^rvo-mit-grant][^gelderland-article]
The company is backed by a EUR 100,000 loan from regional development agency Oost NL and smaller grant funding; it also generates revenue through RF and embedded electronics consulting services. Co-founders Reinier Seuren and Benno Driessen lead the company from the Nijmegen Science Park.[^spacecific-website] A 2024 Radboud University article also named Rik van de Wetering as part of the founding team;[^ru-article] his current role is not listed on the company website.
TYR is a ground tracking service for sounding rockets and sits adjacent to EO launch infrastructure rather than within the core Earth Observation sensor or data-product domain.