British startup NewOrbit Space, which develops satellites for very low Earth orbit (VLEO), attracted 18,5 million dollars in a Series A investment round. 8 June 2026 year the company announced, that with the funds received will carry out his first mission, attract customers, which seek access to VLEO, and will create a production site for manufacturing affordable satellites.
For reference: NewOrbit was co-founded by 2021 by Anatoly Papulov and Ruslan Rakhimov, a former senior researcher at Avant Space Systems in Moscow. Rakhimov holds the position of technical director of NewOrbit. Papulov and Rakhimov joined forces to solve the problems, which prevented the widespread use of VLEOs: aerodynamic resistance, atomic oxygen and aerodynamic moment.
NewOrbit plans to begin commercial service with its first flight in 2028 year. From an altitude of 250-300 kilometers, the startup will demonstrate the significant advantages of working at low altitude. General Director of NewOrbit Anatoly Papulov said, that flying lower 300 kilometers, NewOrbit will be able to offer the highest quality satellite images, available today and in 20 times cheaper, than ordinary satellites, along with higher data rates. These advantages have the potential to open new paradigms in the space economy, such as direct-to-device 5G connectivity from space and live HD video.
Simultaneously, flights in very low Earth orbit require the creation of completely new satellites, since almost every subsystem must be different. Considering the above, the company develops and tests its own electronics, thermal systems, structures, mechanics, control systems, and embedded software and air-jet electric propulsion systems based on lattice ion engines.
In the NEO Production Complex NewOrbit, the opening of which is planned for next year, the startup plans to increase production from the initial capacity 10 satellites per year to several satellites per week. The startup's goal is to create Europe's largest dedicated VLEO manufacturing site and a strategic industrial asset within the continent's sovereign space ecosystem.
According to former Director General of the European Space Agency and NewOrbit advisor Jean-Jacques Dordin, VLEO is one of the few new commercial categories, remaining in space. Its discovery required a rare combination of engineering excellence and institutional discipline. NewOrbit has it all and that, that this category is formed from Great Britain, is significant for European space. Another NewOrbit advisor, Sir Chris Deverell, former Commander of the United Kingdom's Joint Forces, emphasizes, that VLEO will be “a critical layer of future space infrastructure, which will support both commercial, as well as national security missions".
Source: https://spacenews.com