NewOrbit Raises $18.5 Million Series A to Build the World's First Commercial Satellites for Earth's Lowest and Most Valuable Untapped Orbit
Reading‑based aerospace startup NewOrbit has closed an oversubscribed $18.5 million Series A round, bringing total funding to $27.8 million as the company prepares to launch NEO‑1, what it describes as the first commercial satellite ever to sustain operations in very low Earth orbit. The round was led by Voyager Ventures, with participation from David Kirk, former Chief Scientist at Nvidia, Lawrence Leuschner, co‑founder and former CEO of European mobility unicorn Tier Mobility, and family office Custos. Returning backers Atlantic.vc, Lifeline Ventures, LGF, and Illusian also participated. The announcement was made on June 8, 2026.
The capital will be used to conduct NewOrbit's first mission, attract commercial customers, and establish a dedicated satellite production facility, the NEO Production Complex, which the company plans to open in 2027 ahead of the planned NEO‑1 launch in 2028.
Sixty Years of Empty Space
Since the beginning of the space age, engineers have understood that the band of orbit between 180 and 250 kilometres above Earth's surface offers significant advantages over the altitudes used by today's commercial satellite operators. Flying one‑third the altitude of conventional low Earth orbit platforms, a satellite in this regime produces imagery at far higher resolution, delivers faster data transmission speeds, and can support direct‑to‑device connectivity that higher‑altitude satellites cannot match. The physics has been understood for decades. The problem has always been engineering.
Three forces conspire to make the 180‑250km band hostile to sustained operations. Atmospheric drag at these altitudes is intense enough to pull an unpowered spacecraft back toward Earth within weeks, rendering conventional propulsion systems insufficient. Atomic oxygen, highly reactive at these altitudes, corrodes satellite surfaces over time. And aerodynamic torques generated by asymmetric drag across the satellite's structure continuously destabilise orientation, making it difficult to keep the spacecraft pointing where it needs to point.
No commercial operator has cracked all three simultaneously. The result is that this orbital regime, despite representing some of the most commercially valuable real estate in space, has been effectively empty for six decades.
What NewOrbit Has Built
NewOrbit was founded in 2021 by Anatolii Papulov (CEO) and Ruslan Rakhimov (CTO), the latter a former senior researcher at Moscow‑based Avant Space Systems. The company's central claim is that it has engineered solutions to all three problems in a single satellite platform purpose‑built for sustained very low Earth orbit (VLEO) operations.
The core of the NEO‑1 satellite is the AURA thruster, a proprietary air‑breathing electric propulsion system that ingests atmospheric particles directly from the surrounding environment, ionises them inside a radio frequency gridded ion engine, and accelerates them to generate thrust. Rather than carrying propellant onboard, the system uses the atmosphere itself as fuel. Lab tests have demonstrated continuous operation on nitrogen and oxygen with a specific impulse of up to 8,700 seconds, a figure sufficient to fully compensate for atmospheric drag at the target altitude. The result is a projected operational life of up to five years in an orbital regime where conventional satellites would deorbit in weeks.
Beyond propulsion, Papulov has noted that building for VLEO requires reimagining almost every satellite subsystem. The company has developed proprietary electronics, thermal management, structural mechanics, attitude control systems, and embedded software specifically engineered for the conditions at 180 to 250 kilometres. The team that built this technology spans engineers from SpaceX, NASA, JPL, Tesla, Airbus, the European Space Agency, and Formula 1, bringing together aerospace, automotive, and semiconductor expertise that reflects the multidisciplinary nature of the engineering challenge.
NEO‑1 also carries a sustainability benefit that conventional satellite operators cannot match. At 180 to 250 kilometres, any debris generated by a satellite or its deployment will naturally re‑enter Earth's atmosphere within weeks. Unlike the crowded orbital highways between 400 and 600 kilometres, where defunct satellites can persist for decades, VLEO is self‑cleaning. Every spacecraft NewOrbit launches will deorbit automatically at end of life, leaving no lasting debris.
The Commercial Case for VLEO
The market applications unlocked by operating this low are substantial and span several categories that represent large and growing revenue pools in the satellite industry.
Earth observation is the most immediate. From 180 to 250 kilometres, NewOrbit's satellites will be able to deliver imagery at a resolution that Papulov describes as 20 times cheaper than conventional satellites while exceeding the quality currently available from commercial operators flying at 400 to 600 kilometres. The gap between what drone‑level imagery looks like at close range and what a conventional LEO satellite can see from six times further away is significant for customers in defence, agriculture, infrastructure monitoring, and disaster response.
Direct‑to‑device connectivity from space is the second major application. At VLEO altitudes, the signal path between satellite and ground device is dramatically shorter, reducing latency and improving signal strength in ways that make 5G‑equivalent connectivity from space practically viable rather than aspirational. This has implications for global connectivity in unserved areas and for mission‑critical communications that cannot depend on terrestrial networks.
Live high‑definition video from orbit is a third capability the company expects to unlock, one that has been physically constrained by the altitude of existing commercial platforms.
Europe's Sovereign VLEO Capability
NewOrbit frames its strategic position not just as a technology play but as a geopolitical one. The company argues that Europe currently has no sovereign VLEO capability, and that the window to establish one is open but not indefinitely. US‑based Albedo flew its first VLEO satellite, Clarity‑1, in March 2025, before pivoting toward providing satellite buses for defence and commercial operators. EOI Space is planning a launch at 250 kilometres in late 2026. China's CASIC is developing a 300‑satellite VLEO constellation. Against this backdrop, NewOrbit positions itself as the vehicle through which Europe builds and retains indigenous capability in what it calls the most valuable untapped orbital regime in space.
That argument has resonated with advisers who carry substantial credibility in the European defence and space establishment. Jean‑Jacques Dordain, who served as Director General of the European Space Agency from 2003 to 2015, sits on NewOrbit's advisory board. Sir Chris Deverell, former Commander of UK Joint Forces, is also involved. Their presence signals that the company's sovereign capability argument has been heard and taken seriously at the highest levels of European space and defence policy.
The investor mix in the Series A reinforces this positioning. Kirk's background at Nvidia brings semiconductor‑level credibility to the propulsion and signal processing technology. Leuschner's experience scaling Tier Mobility across European markets in a hardware‑intensive regulated industry speaks to the operational challenges of going from prototype to commercial service at continental scale. Voyager Ventures, as lead, brings focused space sector expertise.
Key details about the round and company:
- Series A size: $18.5 million, oversubscribed
- Total funding to date: $27.8 million
- Round led by: Voyager Ventures
- Notable angel investors: David Kirk (former Nvidia Chief Scientist), Lawrence Leuschner (Tier Mobility co‑founder)
- Returning investors: Atlantic.vc, Lifeline Ventures, LGF, Illusian
- NEO‑1 planned launch: 2028
- NEO Production Complex: planned opening 2027
- Target orbit: 180 to 250 kilometres altitude
The $18.5 million Series A gives NewOrbit the runway to move from lab‑validated propulsion technology to a flight‑ready satellite and, ultimately, to the first commercial payload ever deployed in very low Earth orbit. Whether Europe's first VLEO operator succeeds in making the 180‑250km band as commercially routine as today's higher orbits depends on the 2028 launch delivering what the engineering promises. If it does, the sixty‑year gap in the orbital map will finally have a commercial tenant.
