Issue 5 - August 2025
Welcome to the latest edition of D‑Orbit Dispatch, where we recap key milestones and developments from the past two months. In this issue, we’ve got some great news to share: a new record for D-Orbit, the upcoming launch of AIX-1+, insights into regulatory innovation D-Orbit is contributing to, and Europe’s first space cybersecurity challenge live from orbit, organized by D-Orbit together with ESA and the Mhackaroni team! Plus, a look behind the scenes of recent visits to our offices, and where you can meet us next.
Milestone Reached: 200 Payloads Delivered to Orbit!
We are thrilled to start with a major achievement: with the recent release of Spire’s Lemur-2 satellite, our Orbital Transfer Vehicle, ION Satellite Carrier, has officially transported 200 payloads to space since its maiden mission in September 2020.
From satellite launches and deployment to hosted payload and space cloud services, ION has served over 70 customers worldwide across its 19 missions, and counting. Two more missions are already scheduled for launch by the end of the year!
This milestone reflects the unwavering commitment of our team to providing flexible, reliable, and innovative in-orbit solutions for a sustainable space economy.
AIX-1+ Ready to Launch: A Step Closer to a “Satellite-as-a-Service” model
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 will soon join AIX-1 and AIX-1p in orbit, officially kicking off joint operations. This milestone marks a major step forward in the 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.
RPO Regulatory Sandbox: D-Orbit’s Contribution to Advancing Space Regulation
We welcomed the announcement by the UK Government outlining major reforms to accelerate the growth of the national space sector, including the creation of a more agile, innovation-ready regulatory framework.
A highlight of this initiative is the RPO Regulatory Sandbox, a collaborative effort by D-Orbit, ClearSpace, and Astroscale, funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and supported by the UK Space Agency. The Sandbox brings together operators, customers, and regulators to address licensing challenges for Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO) and in-orbit servicing missions.
Stage 1 of the sandbox provided a unique opportunity to work through real-world scenarios in a collaborative, neutral environment. As we move into Stage 2, we look forward to building on this foundation to help shape a regulatory ecosystem that supports mission success, promotes commercial growth, and ensures safety and sustainability in orbit.
Read the UK Government announcement: https://lnkd.in/eh3AsUTv
Read the Sandbox Stage 1 report: https://lnkd.in/gPzrrEk7
CTRL+Space CTF: Europe’s First In-Orbit Capture the Flag
We were thrilled to announce that this November, during the ESA 3S (Security for Space Systems) Conference, the European Space Agency - ESA and D-Orbit will organize Ctrl+Space CTF, Europe’s first in-orbit Capture The Flag (CTF) challenge, featuring challenges realized by the Mhackeroni team.
Unlike any CTF before, this event will see participants engage with live security challenges executed directly aboard D-Orbit's ION Satellite Carrier, orbiting Earth in real time. It’s the first initiative of its kind led by a private European company, offering the opportunity to test skills in areas such as cybersecurity, edge computing, and space technology.
The Security for Space Systems (3S) Conference (👉 https://lnkd.in/eMqtxQv2) will be held at ESTEC, Netherlands, from 4 to 6 November 2025, during which the finals of Ctrl+Space CTF will take place.
All info is available here 👉 https://security4space.esa.int/2025/ctrl-space-ctf/
High-Level Visits to D-Orbit Offices
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been pleased to open the doors of our offices in Italy and Portugal.
We were honored to welcome Ricardo Conde, President of the Portuguese Space Agency, and a delegation from Agência Espacial Portuguesa to D-Orbit’s Lisbon office. During the visit, our team presented core activities in space security and in-orbit operations and exchanged ideas on the future of the space ecosystem.
At our Italian headquarters, we hosted General Franco Federici, Military Advisor to the Italian Prime Minister, and his delegation. They visited our clean rooms, observed our operational and developmental technologies, and learned about NOX, our new Earth observation platform part of the national IRIDE Spazio initiative, as well as GEA, our in-orbit servicing platform designed to enable a new generation of space operations.
We also welcomed delegations from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Marubeni Corporation, strengthening collaborations and sharing perspectives over two productive days.
Last but not least, the President of D-Orbit’s board, Simonetta Di Pippo, joined the CEO of Planetek Italia, Giovanni Sylos Labini, in welcoming H.E. Dr. Tidiane Ouattara, Head of the African Space Agency (AFSA), at the offices of Planetek Italia in Bari, contributing to the growing dialogue on space in Africa and laying the foundations for future collaborations with AFSA and African stakeholders.
Event Highlights
Over the past weeks, we’ve had the pleasure of meeting incredible people from across the industry at:
Looking ahead, these are the upcoming events where you’ll be able to meet us in person:
We look forward to seeing you there to exchange ideas and explore potential collaborations!
D-Orbit Summer Party
There was also room for moments of sharing and conviviality: in July, a group of colleagues spontaneously organized an unofficial D-Orbit summer party! It was a wonderful opportunity to spend a fun evening together with coworkers, families, and friends.
D-Orbit Answers
D-Orbit Answers is our column for space enthusiasts, where we take questions from our community and answer them with insights from our team of experts. This edition's question was: You published a few posts about the Sandbox project... can you better explain why this matters and who it will impact?
To answer, we turned to Lauren Payne, D-Orbit’s UK Legal Counsel: The UK RPO Regulatory Sandbox is a modern approach to developing regulations for new technology and services involving close proximity operations. We expect to see this approach being used more widely, and in other countries we do business in. It brings together representatives from industry, the regulator, and government, who essentially sit together and work through challenges that have been identified under the existing regulatory system. For the RPO Sandbox, the participants came together to work through a specially designed in-orbit servicing case study mission, which tested the boundaries of the existing licensing system.
In the UK, like in many other countries, the existing system was not designed to take space activities involving more than one spacecraft into account. The safety, operational, sustainability, and security requirements are geared towards single satellite missions. This is an expensive and time-consuming challenge for operators who want a licence to operate any kind of RPO missions, from survey to life extension or refuelling. There are no clear requirements for their mission type, and significant uncertainty about how existing requirements should be interpreted for RPO missions.
The RPO Sandbox has allowed the regulator and policymakers to learn more about the new systems and platforms used for RPO activities, and about the types of commercial services now being offered to the market. The RPO operators involved have been able to ask policy and technical representatives from the government and the regulator directly how they would approach key characteristics of the case study mission in a hypothetical licensing. This has enabled a series of recommendations to be produced that can make it easier and faster to license RPO missions.
This model can be used in any jurisdiction, and works well in situations where technology is developing rapidly and regulators are unable to develop new or existing regulatory policy fast enough to facilitate safe and responsible growth. We expect to see more Sandboxes emerge in the UK and beyond!
This project is being delivered jointly by D-Orbit UK Ltd, Astroscale Ltd, and ClearSpace Ltd.
That’s All for Now!
Stay tuned for the next edition of D-Orbit Dispatch, coming in October 2025. Thank you for being part of our journey to space!