Lithuanian startup Blackswan Space has secured €2.5 million in a seed funding round. The investment was led by Iron Wolf Capital, with contributions from Lemonade Stand, NGL Ventures, and angel investors, including NanoAvionics cofounder Linas Sargautis. This latest injection of capital brings the company's total funding to €3.2 million.
The funds are earmarked for the inaugural in-orbit demonstration of the company's RPO Kit, a payload designed for autonomous navigation and rendezvous maneuvers using vision-based technology. The demonstration is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2027 as a hosted payload on a partner satellite. Following this test, the company plans to scale its operations.
Blackswan Space has already secured a partnership with Orbit Fab. The RPO Kit will support docking capabilities for the ASTRAL mission, which is funded by the European Space Agency and slated for 2028. CEO Marius Klimavičius noted that the product was developed to address a specific market gap for off-the-shelf rendezvous and proximity operations hardware.
Beyond its technical milestones, the startup intends to use part of the new funding to expand its presence in the United States. The goal is to establish a physical footprint to better compete for contracts with American in-space servicing firms. The company expects market demand for its docking technology to increase significantly once the initial orbital demonstrations are completed.
