Kurs Orbital, a Turin-based startup founded by Ukrainian space industry veterans, has closed a €3.7 million seed funding round to accelerate the commercialization of its satellite servicing technology.
The round was led by OTB Ventures, a prominent European DeepTech investor with a focus on Central and Eastern Europe. Other participants in the round include Czech Credo Ventures, Italian Galaxia, Polish Inovo, and In-Q-Tel, an American not-for-profit VC fund.
Kurs Orbital was founded in 2022 by Volodymyr Usov, a Ukrainian serial digital entrepreneur who assumed the role of Chairman of the State Space Agency of Ukraine in 2020.
Incubated at I3P (Politecnico di Torino), Kurt Orbital is building on a Soviet-era technology to develop a next-generation rendezvous and docking technology.
Designed to be integrated into any spacecraft bus, the company’s ‘ARCap’ module will enable satellite operators to extend the lifespan of their satellites, relocate them and modify their orbit. Additionally, the module will facilitate remote satellite inspections and space debris removal missions.
Kurs Orbital claims its technology will allow satellite operators to generate “$100,000 of additional revenues per day” by enhancing the commercial lifetime and performance of their satellites.
In an exchange with TechCrunch, Usov emphasized the significant advantage of Kurs Orbital’s solution: “Currently, there are no off-the-shelf rendezvous and docking technologies available, so any company that wants to offer satellite servicing or logistics missions has to develop this technology on its own. This would take years, many missions, people and money to achieve. By contrast, our module allows such companies to enter the market much faster and with a modest expense.”
Kurs Orbital plans to launch its first ARCap module into space by late 2025, marking a significant advancement in satellite servicing technology.
