Topics

Madrid’s Orbital Paradigm aims to prove a cheaper path to orbital reentry

Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda

Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $600+ before prices rise.

Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda

Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise.

Most Popular

BMW, I am so breaking up with you

Homicide at Burning Man turns Silicon Valley’s desert playground into a crime scene

Nvidia says two mystery customers accounted for 39% of Q2 revenue

I’m really impressed with this $400 portable projector

Cracks are forming in Meta’s partnership with Scale AI

Mastodon says it doesn’t ‘have the means’ to comply with age verification laws

Get ready, EV owners: Here come the dongles

Latest

Amazon

Apps

Biotech & Health

Climate

Cloud Computing

Commerce

Crypto

Enterprise

EVs

Fintech

Fundraising

Gadgets

Gaming

Google

Government & Policy

Hardware

Instagram

Layoffs

Media & Entertainment

Meta

Microsoft

Privacy

Robotics

Security

Social

Space

Startups

TikTok

Transportation

Venture

Events

Startup Battlefield

StrictlyVC

Newsletters

Podcasts

Videos

Partner Content

TechCrunch Brand Studio

Crunchboard

Madrid’s Orbital Paradigm aims to prove a cheaper path to orbital reentry Aria Alamalhodaei AM PDT · September 4, 2025 Francesco Cacciatore is a self-proclaimed skeptic. Yet after spending two decades in the European aerospace industry and hitting, as he put it, a “crisis,” he made an undeniably optimistic bet: he started a space company.

“You ask yourself, ‘What am I doing?’” he said in a recent interview. “I got offered some interesting opportunities, but then I kind of collapsed and realized I wanted to try and build something myself.”

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. KID is deliberately minimal: it weighs around 25 kilograms and is roughly 16 inches across, with no propulsion. It will mark the first time the startup puts hardware on orbit.

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.

Customers “don’t want to do a one-off,” Cacciatore said. Institutions, startups and companies frequently want to fly between three and six times a year, he observed. Biotech companies represent a potentially lucrative market because microgravity can enable new materials, drugs and therapies, and these applications often require repeat tests

Techcrunch event Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $600+ before prices rise. Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise. San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025 REGISTER NOW That’s why Orbital Paradigm chose to build a smaller capsule rather than something like SpaceX’s Dragon, which flies astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station. “If you want to fly hundreds of kilograms or thousands of kilograms, then your customer is not the payload anymore, it is the destination to which you fly,” he explained.

The market for orbital return is growing more crowded on both sides of the Atlantic. Varda Space Industries became the first company to nail a commercial reentry in 2024, while Europe’s The Exploration Company achieved a controlled reentry with its own test vehicle this summer.

American startups like Varda and Inversion Space benefit from a few unique tailwinds: notably, the Department of Defense and other agencies have poured millions into hypersonic testing and delivery demos, often in the form of non-dilutive funding like grants or contracts that don’t require giving up company ownership.

“We don’t get that,” Cacciatore acknowledged. “That’s one of the reasons why we build to sell to customers from the beginning, because we don’t get anywhere otherwise. We are starved a bit more, so we need to be a bit more athletic maybe.”

The first launch is rapidly approaching. Orbital Paradigm will fly its maiden mission in roughly three months with an unnamed launch provider, carrying three customer payloads. KID won’t be recovered; instead, the goal is to separate from the rocket, transmit data from orbit, survive the intense heat and speeds of hypersonic reentry, and ping home at least once before the capsule impacts in an undisclosed area.

“We designed the vehicle not to have to land in a specific location,” he said, due to cost and complexity.

The second mission in 2026 will feature a scaled-down Kestrel, with a propulsion system and a parachute to guide the capsule to the Azores, where Portugal’s space agency is developing a spaceport. Like the first mission, there will be no orbital phase – it will just launch, spend around 30 minutes in microgravity before returning – but in this case Orbital Paradigm will be able to recover the vehicle and the payloads inside.

Cacciatore was proud of what the team has accomplished so far, but he was clear-eyed about the long road ahead: “Until we fly, we haven’t done much,” he said. “Words are nice, but flying is the ultimate test.”

Topics

Aria Alamalhodaei

Aria Alamalhodaei covers the space and defense industries at TechCrunch. Previously, she covered the public utilities and the power grid for California Energy Markets. You can also find her work at MIT’s Undark Magazine, The Verge, and Discover Magazine. She received an MA in art history from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. Aria is based in Austin, Texas.

You can contact or verify outreach from Aria

October 27-29, 2025 San Francisco Put your brand in front of 10,000+ tech and VC leaders across all three days of Disrupt 2025. Amplify your reach, spark real connections, and lead the innovation charge. Secure your exhibit space before your competitor does.Last day to book is September 5

Most Popular BMW, I am so breaking up with you Connie Loizos

Homicide at Burning Man turns Silicon Valley’s desert playground into a crime scene Connie Loizos

Nvidia says two mystery customers accounted for 39% of Q2 revenue Anthony Ha

I’m really impressed with this $400 portable projector Lauren Forristal

Cracks are forming in Meta’s partnership with Scale AI Maxwell Zeff Marina Temkin

Mastodon says it doesn’t ‘have the means’ to comply with age verification laws Sarah Perez

Get ready, EV owners: Here come the dongles Tim De Chant

X LinkedIn Facebook Instagram youTube Mastodon Threads Bluesky TechCrunchStaffContact UsAdvertiseCrunchboard JobsSite Map Terms of ServicePrivacy PolicyRSS Terms of UseCode of Conduct TelsaAnthropicTelexKlarnaMrBeastTech LayoffsChatGPT © 2025 TechCrunch Media LLC.