News Summary

Francesco Cacciatore, after two decades in the European aerospace industry, co-founded Orbital Paradigm with Víctor Gómez García in Madrid. This startup is tackling the complex challenge of orbital reentry with the development of a reentry capsule, KID, designed to facilitate materials creation in zero gravity. With less than €1 million and a team of nine, Orbital Paradigm is set to launch its first mission carrying payloads from clients like Alatyr and Leibniz University Hannover. The startup has raised €1.5 million in seed funding from investors such as Id4 and Demium. Cacciatore emphasizes the importance of repeat missions to cater to biotech companies, who require frequent tests for materials and drugs developed in microgravity. Orbital Paradigm plans to differentiate itself by offering smaller capsules compared to larger options like SpaceX’s Dragon. The company aims to conduct its maiden mission in the coming months, with plans for a second mission featuring a scaled-down Kestrel capsule in 2026.