NewOrbit has raised an oversubscribed $18.5 million Series A to build satellites that fly lower than any commercial operator has managed before.
Its NEO-1 satellite targets the 180–250km orbit band, where atmospheric drag has kept commercial operators out for six decades, and where image resolution is far sharper than from higher altitudes.
The round brings total funding to $27.8 million and is backed by a mix of figures from the space, mobility, and chip industries, as well as four returning venture firms.
Since the 1960s, engineers have known that flying satellites between 180 and 250 kilometres above Earth produces sharper images and stronger signals than orbits used today. They also knew it was nearly impossible to sustain, including atmospheric drag pulling spacecraft back down within weeks, atomic oxygen corroding their surfaces, and standard control systems could not keep up with the forces involved.
NewOrbit, a Reading-based startup founded in 2021 by Anatolii Papulov and Ruslan Rakhimov, says it has solved all three.
