The Helsinki-based ReOrbit has raised an unprecedented €45 million Series A to develop sovereign satellite networks for governments and critical infrastructure operators, placing Europe in a position to have a homegrown alternative to Elon Musk’s Starlink. Cash injections highlight broader efforts to achieve strategic autonomy in satellite-based connectivity, as countries look for alternatives to foreign controlled networks.
Europe’s Sovereign Satellite Bet
Throughout Europe, secure communications are being elevated from nice-to-have to national necessity. Policymakers at different levels of the European Union have been driving investment into independent networks under programs like the European Commission’s IRIS2 secure connectivity initiative to counteract dependence on non-European constellations and vendors.
The urgency is driven, in part, by flesh-and-blood vulnerabilities. Trade groups estimate that over 95 percent of all international data is ferried along by underwater cables, and the recent cuts in the Red Sea and elsewhere showed how easily cable lines can be severed or degraded, fueling fresh appetite for fail-safe satellites as a backstop for defense, emergency response and critical infrastructure.
What ReOrbit Is Building
ReOrbit is building both the satellite and a software layer that enables customers to truly own, control and secure their satellite operations. Rather than market consumer broadband directly, the company provides turnkey systems—hardware acquired from trusted suppliers, payload integration, and an operating system that knits the system together—to nations and enterprises.
At its heart is a software stack the company has described as a “space OS” that can control a variety of orbits and payloads. It can accommodate Reorbit’s SiltaSat geostationary platform, which maintains continuous coverage of a specific area, and its UkkoSat low Earth orbit platform, which is designed for minimal latency and fast refresh. Mobility among orbits opens the possibility of hybrid architectures that combine resiliency with performance.
The proposition of sovereignty is obvious: buyers maintain control command, can host national encryption, and aren’t locked into foreign ground networks or cloud control. That control is increasingly coveted by governments as they grapple with the desire for security, industrial policy and the utility of modern, software-defined satellites that can be re-tasked over their lifetimes.
Funding, Investors And The Path To €1B Orders
The €45 million round was arranged by Springvest, with contributions from some Nordic institutions and a list of existing backers as well contributing, including pension funds Varma and Elo, and venture funds Icebreaker. vc, Inventure, Expansion VC, and 10x Founders. ($8 million), and the raise serves as a new high-water mark for a Finnish space startup and one of the largest Series A rounds in European space tech.
ReOrbit says it has already signed a full contract, which reportedly is worth “hundreds of millions,” with one government customer and has multiple memorandums of understanding with others. A near-term goal for management is achieving a €1 billion order book within four years — a “sales unicorn” ambition that will demand the scaling of manufacturing, supply chains, and mission operations, and the strengthening of sovereign-grade cybersecurity and ground segment features.
The proceeds will be used to serially produce satellites, to grow the software platform and to develop payload partnerships in communications and Earth observation. That pairing — software-defined satellites accompanied by interchangeable hardware — owes to a larger industry trend: the move toward configurable systems that can be modified in space.
Starlink, Astranis And The Map
Starlink, according to company statements, is the scale leader, with thousands of satellites in orbit and millions of subscribers around the world. Eutelsat Eutelsat OneWeb is Europe’s leading LEO broadband constellation and Astranis is targeting small geostationary satellites for national markets. Every model embodies distinct trade-offs among cost, control and coverage.
ReOrbit is distinct more in its sovereignty and customizability rather than in retail service. Its customers are not leasing capacity from a global constellation; they are purchasing their own piece of space infrastructure — satellites, software, and mission autonomy. That resonates with governments that demand European vendors, ITAR-light supply chains and the ability to certify national crypto and mission software.”
The Nordics have a history to build on. In that sense, ICEYE of Finland broke new ground — it seems to be the best-capitalized satellite company in the world outside of SpaceX — as it proved that the region can commercialize hardware, data and operations on a world-class level. ReOrbit want to follow that momentum in secure communication and multi-orbit mission platforms.
What To Watch Next
“The next step for ReOrbit will be in-orbit demonstration with the European Space Agency, to demonstrate and validate our software-centric architecture and multi-orbit operations. A win would make the company a contender for procurement orders related to Europe’s secure connectivity ambitions and national defense modernization programmes.
Critical execution risks involve spectrum coordination, component lead times, launcher availability, and the capital intensity of deploying the fleet. But if ReOrbit can turn its early deals into contracts and follow through on the ESA demo, it will give Europe something it has long yearned for: a creditable, sovereign alternative to foreign broadband constellations that can adapt to changing missions in stride.
“The question is never asked anymore whether space is strategic,” the political scientist Eligar Sadeh wrote in 2009 in “Space Politics and Policy: An Evolutionary Perspective.” “The question is who controls the platforms, software and data.” With new funding and a sovereign-first approach, ReOrbit has rooted Europe in the competition.
