Europe

Orbital Paradigm's KID reentry demonstrator flew on ISRO's PSLV-C62 on January 12, 2026. The launch vehicle suffered an anomaly during the third-stage burn and failed to reach orbit, losing its primary payload EOS-N1 and 14 of 15 co-passengers. KID was the sole survivor — the capsule separated from the fairing, transmitted 190 seconds of reentry flight data, and survived atmospheric entry before impacting Earth. Orbital Paradigm confirmed it achieved 4 of 5 pre-defined mission milestones despite the off-nominal profile, validating separation, power-on, data transmission, and reentry survivability.

Madrid-based Orbital Paradigm secured €1.5M in pre-seed funding from Akka, Demium Capital, id4 Ventures, and other investors to accelerate development of its Kestrel reusable reentry capsule. The company has pre-sold its first mission in full, with its second already 80% booked, and holds commercial interest from 18 clients worth a combined €81M. Founding CEO Francesco Cacciatore brings nearly two decades of ESA experience from Space Rider and Euclid.