€25.7M SERIES A.
Three Flights. Defence Entry.
PHOENIX 3.
ATMOS Space Cargo Raises€25.7 Million in Series A to Build Europe’s Orbital Return Infrastructure
Lichtenau, Germany /
Strasbourg, France
ATMOS Space Cargo, a European company developing orbital transport and re-entry vehicles, has closed a €25.7 million Series A financing round. The funding will support an initial three-vehicle PHOENIX 2 fleet, the launch of ATMOS WORKS for governmental and defence customers, and development of PHOENIX 3, the company’s next-generation orbital return vehicle.
The round is co-led by Balnord and Expansion, and joined by Keen Defence and Security. The European Innovation Council (EIC) participates through its Accelerator programme via blended financing, combining grant and equity components. Additional investors include OTB Ventures, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), APEX Ventures, Seraphim, Faber, E2MC, Kirch Ventures, Lennertz & Co., Mätch VC, MBG Baden-Württemberg, and Tech Horizons.
PHOENIX 2 Fleet: Three-Flight Campaign
Following its PHOENIX 1 demonstration flight in April 2025, the company is now moving from demonstration to routine operations. Three PHOENIX 2 orbital transfer and return vehicles (OTRVs) will be constructed and operated as a phased operational mission campaign, servicing institutional and commercial clients across a range of payload and mission profiles.
PHOENIX 2 is a free-flying spacecraft equipped with integrated propulsion and power systems, capable of mission durations from hours to several months in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The vehicle performs autonomous de-orbit, controlled atmospheric re-entry using ATMOS’ Inflatable Atmospheric Decelerator (IAD) technology, which serves as both heat shield and aerodynamic brake. Its non-ablative design minimizes material loss and environmental impact while maximizing payload-to-mass efficiency and re-entry precision for rapid payload recovery.
Initial recovery operations are being prepared near Santa Maria in the Azores, under Portugal’s ANACOM-09/2026-AE licence enabling commercial orbital re-entry operations under a continental European Union member state’s jurisdiction.
The three-flight campaign creates an initial operational cadence, reduces programme risk, and gives research institutions, industrial customers, and government users a clear path to fly missions. In doing so, it begins to turn orbital return into a repeatable European service rather than a one-off demonstration.
ATMOS WORKS: A Dedicated Entity for European Governmental and Defence Institutions
ATMOS Space Cargo is launching ATMOS WORKS, a dedicated business focused on space logistics and operational capabilities for European governmental and defence customers. The PHOENIX platform’s dual-use architecture supports mission profiles including in-orbit demonstration and validation (IOD/IOV), secure and sovereign return of sensitive hardware and data, and responsive time-critical operations.
Further details on ATMOS WORKS will be announced separately.
Initial operational platform enabling repeatable orbital return missions and constellation buildup.
Scaled return architecture designed for high-mass payloads, rapid turnaround, and sustained operational availability.
PHOENIX 3: Next-Generation Orbital Return Vehicle Development
ATMOS has begun development of PHOENIX 3, a next-generation orbital transfer and re-entry vehicle designed for a payload capacity of approximately one metric tonne – roughly ten times that of the PHOENIX 2.
The vehicle is being designed to address larger payload classes, aggregated multi-customer missions, and future institutional and security requirements.
PHOENIX 3 is intended to meet the needs of Europe’s evolving space economy, supporting sovereign access to and from orbit, independent technology validation, and the long-term needs of European industry, government, and security users.
Further details on the PHOENIX 3 programme will be announced in the coming weeks.
STATEMENTS
“This financing allows us to move to regular operational service. A structured campaign of three vehicles establishes Europe’s first routine orbital return infrastructure. PHOENIX 2 is the first step to build a scalable European return infrastructure that will demonstrate our ability to access, operate, and return materials, data, and hardware from orbit independently. With ATMOS WORKS and PHOENIX 3, we are building the full architecture – commercial, institutional, and defence-capable – in parallel.”
Sebastian Klaus, CEO and Co-Founder, ATMOS Space Cargo
“ATMOS is building exactly the kind of dual-use capability Europe needs more of: sovereign access not only to orbit, but back from orbit. We believe ATMOS can become a crucial part of the logistics backbone of a real European space industrial base — one built on operational services, strategic autonomy, and the ability to serve commercial, institutional, and defence customers from the same platform.”
Aleksander Dobrzyniecki, General Partner, Balnord
“ATMOS is building a capability Europe critically lacks: a sovereign, repeatable ability to return payloads from orbit. This investment supports the emergence of orbital return as essential infrastructure for Europe’s commercial, institutional, and security needs.”
Ted Elvhage, Founding Partner, Expansion Ventures
“Europe’s strategic autonomy in space depends on sovereign, end-to-end access to orbit, including the ability to return. ATMOS Space Cargo is addressing an important capability gap in Europe’s space infrastructure. This investment reflects the EIC Fund’s commitment to supporting deep tech companies that strengthen European competitiveness, technological sovereignty, and the long-term development of the European space economy.”
Svetoslava Georgieva, Chair of the EIC Fund Board, European Innovation Council
About ATMOS Space Cargo
ATMOS Space Cargo is a European space company with facilities in Lichtenau (Germany) and Strasbourg (France), developing lightweight, reusable orbital transportation vehicles to transport, operate and return payloads across a broad range of mass classes and mission profiles from Low Earth Orbit.
The PHOENIX vehicle family comprises reusable orbital transfer and return vehicles (OTRVs) for autonomous cargo operations. Equipped with an Inflatable Atmospheric Decelerator (IAD) serving as both heat shield and aerodynamic brake, its non-ablative design minimizes material loss and environmental impact while maximizing payload-to-mass efficiency and re-entry control.
By closing the loop of space logistics, ATMOS supports in-orbit manufacturing, advanced materials, and microgravity research, and contributes to building a sustainable and reliable European space infrastructure that enhances access to space and strengthens long-term technological sovereignty.
https://atmos-space-cargo.com/
Press Contact ATMOS
Krystian Bandzimiera, Head of Communications ATMOS Space Cargo
krystian.bandzimiera@atmos-space-cargo.com
About Balnord
Balnord is a high-conviction early-stage investor in frontier and dual-use technologies. Focused primarily on founders from the Baltic Sea and Northern Europe (Nordics, Baltics, Poland, Germany), Balnord backs companies solving the hardest problems in critical industries – laying the foundation for Europe’s re-industrialization in the real economy across sectors such as space, healthcare, industrial resilience, and more. With the team’s former entrepreneurial and operational backgrounds, Balnord helps founders scale from the first round through exit and beyond.
About Expansion Ventures
Expansion Ventures is a pan-European independent venture capital firm with presence in Paris, Stockholm and Luxembourg, investing in Sustainable Aerospace and Defence strategic technologies with a focus on Europe’s industrial and defense sovereignty.
Backed by both public and private stakeholders, Expansion Ventures supports early stage deeptech ventures building the foundations of resilient European infrastructure.
About EIC Fund
The European Innovation Council Fund from the European Commission is a deep tech investor across all technologies. The EIC Fund aims to fill a critical financing gap, to support companies in the development and commercialisation of disruptive technologies. With its large network of capital providers and strategic partners it shares risk and crowds in market players.
More information: https://eic.ec.europa.eu/eic-fund