NEW ORLEANS — D-Orbit, an Italian company that provides space transportation services, has raised 100 million euros ($110 million) in a Series C round to expand into satellite servicing and other applications.
The company announced Jan. 11 a first closing of a Series C round, led by Japanese company Marubeni Corporation. Also participating in the round is Avantgarde, a family office, along with venture funds CDP Venture Capital Sgr, Seraphim Space Investment Trust, United Ventures, Indaco Venture Partners, Neva SGR Spa and Primo Ventures.
D-Orbit said it expects to bring on additional investors in a second closing of the Series C round later in the first half of the year.
D-Orbit currently provides in-space transportation services using its ION series of orbital transfer vehicles. Those tugs have launched primarily on SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, such as the Transporter line of rideshare missions. The most recent ION, the 13th overall, was a secondary payload on the Falcon 9 launch of a South Korean reconnaissance satellite Dec. 1.
“This milestone marks a seismic leap in the evolution of D-Orbit,” Luca Rossettini, chief executive of D-Orbit, said in statement about the funding round. The funding, he said, is “solidifying our commitment to revolutionize the space logistics industry.”
D-Orbit plans to use the funding to expand it capabilities from in-space transportation into space cloud computing and servicing. The funding will also go towards enhancing its “operational capabilities” in Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The company announced plans nearly two years ago to go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition copmany (SPAC) called Breeze Holdings. D-Orbit at the time expected to raise $185 million and value the company at $1.28 billion.
However, in August 2022, D-Orbit and Breeze Holdings called off the merger, with the SPAC citing “substantially” changed markets since Russia’s…
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