ClearSpace raises EUR 26 million to clean up Earth's orbit

19.01.2023 14:50, Morgane Ghilardi

The funding allows the Swiss–based leader in in–orbit servicing and active space debris removal to accelerate the movement toward the sustainable use of space. ClearSpace was voted a TOP 100 Swiss Startup in 2021 and 2022.

ClearSpace finalized a EUR 26.7 million series A financing round. The startup is ramping up operations ahead of the world's first space debris removal mission, ClearSpace-1, scheduled to launch in 2026.

ClearSpace was founded in 2018 with the aim of making space operations more sustainable. The company is developing technologies and services that are needed to extend the life of active satellites, for example when they run out of fuel, and to safely remove them from orbit when they have reached their end of life. Such services are critical for maximizing the value of space-based assets, and for preventing the dangerous build-up of space debris objects.

ClearSpace boasts experts from the field of astrodynamics, space engineering, and satellite technology, hailing from high-caliber institutions such as NASA and Stanford. The Swiss astronaut Prof. Claude Nicollier serves as chair of the advisory board.

This new financing round brings together a global team of venture capital investors, led by OTB Ventures backed by the European Investment Fund under InvestEU program and Swisscom Ventures, with participation from the Luxembourg Future Fund, Lakestar, In-Q-Tel, Happiness Capital, and 600 T Space Investments. As part of the financing, ClearSpace is establishing an operational presence in Luxembourg that will benefit from the strong space and satellite focus there.

The company recently announced a satellite life-extension collaboration with satcom operator Intelsat, building upon the technology being developed under the EUR 110 million space debris removal mission, ClearSpace-1, secured from the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2020. ClearSpace-1, which is supported by Omega as Elite Partner, will be the first of numerous missions ClearSpace is planning for both low-Earth and geostationary orbits.

The global space market is booming, driven by strategic and commercial interest from governments, technology innovations opening up new markets for the private sector, and reduced satellite launch costs. Citigroup predicts that the space industry should reach USD 1 trillion in annual revenue by 2040.

In September 2022, ClearSpace announced that it was awarded GBP 2.2 million by the UK Space Agency after completing a first study phase to design a mission for the retrieval of UK-registered derelict objects in low Earth orbit.



Decades of unsustainable practices have congested the near-Earth orbital regime with a plethora of dead and defunct satellites and rockets. According to ESA, 32,480 debris items in orbit are being tracked by space surveillance networks; yet there are more than 130 million currently untrackable objects, ranging from 1 mm to greater than 10 cm in size. This space junk not only pollutes our fragile near-Earth environment, but it also represents a critical risk to active satellites that can (and have been) destroyed in high-speed collisions with such debris.

"We began this company 4 years ago with the goal of making space operations sustainable and are delighted to be joined on our journey by our new partner investors," said ClearSpace Co-founders, CEO Luc Piguet and CTO Muriel Richard-Noca. "The market is now developing, much faster than we had expected, and we look forward to accelerating our activities to meet the urgent needs of space sustainability."

Dominique Megret of Swisscom Ventures said, "Swisscom Ventures is delighted to back our Swiss-made champion ClearSpace in its mission to make space operations sustainable. ClearSpace is a deep tech landmark, and we look forward to working with the team going forward."

ClearSpace was voted a TOP 100 Swiss Startup in 2021 and 2022, reaching place #11 ink last year's ranking. The company also participated in the ESA BIC Switzerland support program for Swiss-based spacetech startups.