NewOrbit raises $18.5m in Series A funding led by Voyager Ventures to build very low Earth orbit satellites
The Series A round was led by Voyager Ventures to fund the construction of a new production facility in the Thames Valley.
NewOrbit is a space technology startup building satellites designed to operate in very low Earth orbit.
NewOrbit has raised $18.5m in a Series A funding round led by Voyager Ventures to develop its very low Earth orbit satellite technology. The capital will be directed towards building the NEO Production Complex in the Thames Valley, with production scaling towards 2027. The company aims to launch its first commercial satellite in 2028.
The Reading-based enterprise has developed an air-breathing propulsion system intended to counteract atmospheric drag in the 180 to 250km orbit band. This round brings NewOrbit's total funding to $27.8m following earlier backing from various venture firms and industry figures.
From the founder
"For sixty years, VLEO has been treated as too hostile an environment for commercial satellites — but it is in fact the most valuable empty real estate in space. Today, no one in the industry has a reliable, affordable, and fast way to fly payloads into very low Earth orbit. We built our NEO-1 satellite to do exactly that,"
Anatolii Papulov
Co-founder at NewOrbit
Investor perspective
"VLEO is the next foundational shift in the global space industry. The technology will unlock order-of-magnitude improvements in earth observation at a fraction of the cost today,"
Matthew Blain
Partner, Voyager Ventures
Use of funds
- 01Build out infrastructure