Space tech D-Orbit raises €100m Series C funding

The company described it as one of the largest ever for a European Space Tech company, following a successful 2023 that saw revenue growth and the winning of €60m in European government and space agency contracts. It also completed an additional seven missions of its ION Satellite Carrier, an orbital transfer vehicle.

The funding round was led by Marubeni Corporation, from the Japanese industrial sector. And also involved was Avantgarde, from the
pharmaceutical, an existing investors such as CDP Venture Capital Sgr (via its Large Ventures and Italia Venture I funds), Seraphim Space Investment Trust, United Ventures, Indaco Venture Partners, Neva SGR Spa (the venture capital arm of Intesa Sanpaolo banking group), and Primo Ventures.

The round is expected to see further participation from additional investors in a subsequent closing in H1 2024, said D-Orbit.

Head-quartered in Fino Mornasco – in Lombardy, Italy – the company also has a UK office based on the Harwell Campus in Didcot.

ION Satellite Carrier

D-Orbit’s ION Satellite Carrier Vessel is a platform (with a multi-year lifetime and propulsion capability) that can enable the observation of debris both passively and actively.

The idea is provide a service to “phase a batch of spacecraft quickly and safely along one or more orbital planes,” says the company.

“The service is enabled by ION Satellite Carrier, D-Orbit’s proprietary orbital transfer vehicle, which carries the satellites along the constellation’s orbital plane and releases each spacecraft in its designated orbital slot. This strategy reduces significantly the time required to phase a batch of satellites along an orbital plane, bringing forward the revenue-generating phase of the mission and enabling optimal use of the spacecraft’s life.”

Image: D-Orbit

See also: UKSA funds £1.7 million for space sustainability projects