Funding news · Sep 30, 2026
Blackswan Space Raises €2.5M Seed Led by Iron Wolf Capital for Spacecraft Autonomy
Blackswan Space Closes €2.5M Seed Round
Blackswan Space, a Lithuanian space technology company founded in 2019, has raised a €2.5 million seed round. The round was led by Iron Wolf Capital, with participation from NGL Ventures, Lemonade Stand, Linas Sargautis, and Tomas Žalandauskas.
What Blackswan Space Does
Blackswan Space develops software and hardware for spacecraft autonomy. Its product portfolio consists of two main offerings:
- Mission Design Simulator (MDS) — a virtual environment for prototyping and testing autonomous space missions.
- RPO Kit — a plug-and-play payload that uses vision-based navigation to let customer spacecraft perform autonomous rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking maneuvers.
Team and Reach
The company has a team of roughly 25 people across Vilnius, London, and Denver. It serves commercial and institutional customers in the EU and US.
Notable Program Involvement
Blackswan Space was selected by Orbit Fab to supply the RPO Kit for ASTRAL, described as the first European in-space refuelling mission backed by the UK Space Agency and ESA. This selection underscores the relevance of the company's vision-based navigation payload to emerging in-space servicing and refuelling missions.
Funding Details
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Round type | Seed |
| Amount | €2,500,000 |
| Currency | EUR |
| Date | September 30, 2026 |
| Lead investor | Iron Wolf Capital |
| Participating investors | NGL Ventures, Lemonade Stand, Linas Sargautis, Tomas Žalandauskas |
Why This Matters for the Acquisition Landscape
Spacecraft autonomy — particularly rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking — is a foundational capability for in-space servicing, refuelling, and debris management. Blackswan Space sits at the intersection of simulation software and flight-ready autonomy hardware, giving it two potential vectors of strategic value:
- Autonomy software and simulation — acquirers building mission design and testing toolchains may see MDS as a complementary asset.
- Vision-based navigation payloads — the RPO Kit addresses a specialized capability that is difficult to develop in-house and increasingly demanded by commercial and institutional space programs.
With customers across the EU and US and a footprint spanning Vilnius, London, and Denver, Blackswan Space has positioned itself as a transatlantic supplier in a niche where flight heritage and mission selection matter. Its selection for the ASTRAL refuelling mission provides a concrete reference point for its RPO Kit.
What to Watch
As Blackswan Space deploys this seed funding, the market will be watching how it scales production of the RPO Kit, expands its customer base in the EU and US, and converts mission selections like ASTRAL into broader flight heritage. Those milestones will determine its trajectory as an independent company and its appeal to acquirers in the space autonomy and in-space servicing sectors.