Bastien Gardeur

𝗢𝗿𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 - 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗵𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 🚀 This summer Dark has successfully completed an orbital propulsion subsystem hot-fire test campaign at ONERA - The French Aerospace Lab, with 162 tests in one month. 𝗙𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁-𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 ▪️ 16 tested configurations, including three thrust classes : 150N, 5N, and 1N thrusters, each with specific injector variations (comment section). ▪️A shortened sacrificial nozzle was used to test radiative cooling under various conditions (see damage in the video after >10 firings). ▪️Representative tailor-made bench for propellant feeding (gaseous and/or liquid nitrous oxide + ethane), pre-qualified at ONERA. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 ▪️ Liquid and gaseous feeding tested over a wide range of mixture ratios, replicating expected operating conditions. ▪️Regenerative cooling validated under steady state with >3000K combustion temperatures, a tough challenge for thumb-sized thrusters! ▪️Combustion efficiencies up to 97% under nominal conditions. 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 ▪️ Dark’s in-house design methodology, originally built for the SHEITAN cryogenic engine, proved robust across this very diverse set of thrusters. ▪️The campaign generated a rich dataset to refine those models and calibrate the behaviour of saturated propellants. Congratulations to the Dark's team, many thanks to the team at ONERA - The French Aerospace Lab - Banc Mascotte for their continued support, and to our partners MMB VOLUM-e, Swagelok, Kistler Group, PM instrumentation, ERCIAT, deltaVision - fluid control & aerospace, Aubert & Duval. 

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Fresh from its merger with Intelsat, Luxembourg's SES Satellites is testing laser ground stations with French partner Cailabs – a step that could make data transmission faster, more secure, and harder to intercept than traditional radio waves. 💡 Here’s why lasers could be the next big shift in space tech 👉 https://bit.ly/4pkq0pT

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📢 We’re proud to announce that AIX-1+, the third satellite in the AI-eXpress series and the final element of its first generation, has been successfully integrated into ION SCV Stellar Stephanus and is now ready for shipment to the launch site. Soon, it will join AIX-1 and AIX-1p in orbit, officially kicking off joint operations. 🚀 This milestone marks a major step forward in a project led by Planetek Italia, in which D-Orbit is thrilled to collaborate alongside AIKO - Infinite ways to autonomy. 🛰 AIX (AI-eXpress) is co-funded by the European Space Agency - ESA Phi-lab’s #InCubed programme and leverages artificial intelligence and blockchain in space to enhance satellite responsiveness, autonomy, and low-latency data delivery. AIX sets the foundation for a next-generation “satellite-as-a-service” model, a fast, flexible in-orbit app ecosystem that delivers near-instant interaction (as low as 10 seconds) and new capabilities for downstream users 📡 🙏 A heartfelt thank-you to our exceptional team for their commitment throughout this journey, especially during the intense final integration days. Special appreciation goes to #ESA #InCubed, Michele Castorina, Daniele Romagnoli, and Gianluca Furano, your steadfast support has been crucial. 🚀 AIX will soon be at full capacity… stay tuned for more insights as the mission unfolds! #space #cloud #data #satellites #wearedorbit #ai #blockchain

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Meet our newest Venture Scouts at First Momentum, finding the Deep Tech and Industrial Tech startups that will shape tomorrow. 👏 🪐 Alexandra Gravereaux – Working as Lead Systems Engineer at Telespazio UK, she has extensive experience in space missions and ground systems (trained by European Space Agency - ESA) and invests in female founders through Alma Angels. 🪐 Taha Adnan – With a background in Chemistry, he works as a Deep Tech Innovation Scout at Zaz Ventures, bringing EU funds to cutting-edge startups. 🪐 Kevin Qiu – A Sensor Engineer at Kodiak with a background in Robotics (EPFL) and Mechanical Engineering (University of Waterloo), Kevin uses experience from Nuro, Logitech, and Nomagic for his passion for robotics, autonomous systems, and next-gen mobility. 🪐 Giorgio Fracasso, PhD – Previously at Entrepreneurs First and at the MPI-CBG - Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, he is driving innovation in synthetic biology and mRNA therapeutics as Co-founder of Reactosome and brings deep Bio Tech expertise to our community. 🪐 Christoforos Iakovou – Currently pursuing his PhD in Quantum Optics at University of Cambridge, focusing on nonlinear optics, he combines research excellence from University of Oxford and University of Strathclyde with venture experience in Med Tech. 🪐 James E. Mister – A Princeton University and Technical University of Munich alumnus, with 15 years at the intersection of product, growth, and tech policy. He advises startups, VCs, and governments on AI, frontier tech, scaling, and capital formation, and previously led Bavaria’s Tech Investment Office in Silicon Valley. Interested in joining a community that connects, invests, and grows with founders? Become a Venture Scout: https://lnkd.in/dqSUvfjh #FirstMomentum #VentureCapital #DeepTech #IndustrialTech #B2B #VentureScouts #StartupJobs #VCJobs

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Isar Aerospace welcomes R-Space to its launch manifest! As part of the European Space Agency - ESA Marketplace initiative, Isar Aerospace and R-Space signed a launch service agreement covering the launch of two satellites aboard Isar Aerospace’s launch vehicle ‘Spectrum’ from Andøya Spaceport in 2026, with further missions in the pipeline. Read more in our press release: https://lnkd.in/d87nMwiY

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