"That something turned out to be one of the most challenging problems in aerospace: reentry. Along with his cofounder Víctor Gómez García, Cacciatore founded Orbital Paradigm, a Madrid-based startup building a reentry capsule to unlock new markets for materials created in zero gravity. In less than two years, with a team of nine and less than €1 million, the company built a test capsule dubbed KID, a precursor to a future reusable space capsule called Kestrel."
"The customers for this first demonstration mission include French space robotics startup Alatyr, Germany's Leibniz University Hannover and a third unnamed customer. To date, the company has raised €1.5 million in seed funding from Id4, Demium, Pinama, Evercurious, and Akka. Orbital Paradigm didn't initially set out to develop return capsules. The cofounders first envisioned in-space robotics, but prospective customers repeatedly said what they really wanted was a capability to go to orbit, stay a little while, and come back - repeatedly."
Francesco Cacciatore left a two-decade aerospace career after a personal crisis and founded Orbital Paradigm with cofounder Víctor Gómez García to tackle reentry. The startup developed a minimal test capsule called KID in under two years with a nine-person team and less than €1 million. KID weighs around 25 kilograms, spans roughly 16 inches, lacks propulsion, and will mark the company’s first hardware on orbit. Initial customers include Alatyr and Leibniz University Hannover. The company raised €1.5 million in seed funding. Customers requested repeated orbit-return capability, and biotech markets are seen as especially promising due to microgravity-enabled materials and therapies.
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