Italy’s D-Orbit is pioneering a new approach to the growing issue of space debris cluttering Earth’s orbits. The space transportation company, co-founded by CEO Luca Rossettini, provides last-mile logistics for satellite deployment and in-orbit services.
Rather than looking at debris as just a problem, Rossettini sees it as a resource for future orbital manufacturing and recycling.
“Space debris is a resource, not a problem because it’s a lot of raw material that in the future could be recycled in orbit to produce new satellites directly in orbit,” he said in a recent interview.
While that vision is still on the horizon, D-Orbit is focused today on more immediate commercial opportunities like cloud computing services.
“We call it, generally speaking, advanced services connecting all these satellites that are capable of high computational capabilities,” Rossettini explained. “Cloud computing is important for us not just for serving the satellite operators today but also for the future.”
Another key offering is in-orbit validation and demonstration for startups struggling to test technologies.
“We offer a couple of slots in our ION on every launch and we validate technologies,” said Rossettini. “These companies immediately after testing the technology are capable of receiving requests for offers from their customers.”
The third business line driving D-Orbit’s $100+ million funding round is satellite life extension and servicing.
“It’s a highly strategic for the company with a very good market right now in GEO and an incoming market in LEO,” he said.
From this, it’s clear Rossettini has big ambitions for D-Orbit, ones which the company hopes to execute in the future.
