Tech startup Kurs Orbital has received a new tranche of funding in the amount of $4 million million. These funds will be used to accelerate the commercialization of satellite maintenance technology.
Kurs Orbital was founded in 2021 by former Director of the Ukrainian Space Agency Volodymyr Usov and is currently based in Turin. The company aims to develop new types of human activity in space by providing opportunities for satellite movement and space debris removal. The startup itself does not plan to provide these services, but instead aims to become a leading provider of the necessary approach and docking technologies. This will be done with the help of the ARCap module, which can be integrated into any spacecraft bus.
Kurs Orbital’s technology is based on the «Kurs» system, a legacy of the Soviet era that was developed to dock spacecraft to the «Mir» space station. Unlike other similar developments, the Kurs Orbital module will be able to dock with «non-cooperative» targets or spacecraft that are not equipped with any docking equipment in advance.
The company aims to have the first ARCap module ready for spaceflight in the fourth quarter of 2025, although Usov declined to provide any details about the first mission.
Source: techcrunch