New resources to advance the development of EOS, the personal computer of space vehicles.
Italy, 11 October 2021 – Round seed €1.5M for Sidereus Space Dynamics, a company specializing in the development of a new generation orbital vehicle called EOS. The VC leading this new round is Primo Space, part of Primo Ventures, a fund specialized in the new space economy sector, and the Fondo Italia Venture II of CDP Venture Capital SGR, a fund for the development of Startups and SMEs in the South.
The EOS vehicles, characterized by miniaturized dimensions (just 1/10 of a conventional launcher), are equipped with cutting-edge flight and safety systems and can be deployed and operated from anywhere in the world in just a few hours. EOS will be able to launch payloads into space, carry out activities in orbit and execute the recovery of microsatellites.
The research and development of the first of the three prototypes, EOS “Caronte”, culminated with its construction and testing in December 2020, allowing the collection of essential data for the beginning of the next phase.
With the €1.5M round seed, it will be possible to continue the development and to complete the second prototype, EOS “Virgilio”, over the next 18 months, through an intense test campaign that will range from static test fires of the engines up to the execution of the experimental flights. The development will take place within a new facility under construction by the company on the Italian territory and with a look at a future national launch site, besides other European and international spaceports.
Mattia Barbarossa, CEO, CTO, and Founder of Sidereus announces: “The new space economy is much more than a simple trend, in these years we are facing an extremely significant historical turning point for our future. The technologies that space companies are developing today are those that will allow us to make the “planetary leap” in the next years. However, the current efforts for the development of orbital launch systems are all based on the same technological approaches of the last 60 years. This is why we are working on EOS.
EOS is what we call “the personal computer of space vehicles”, a small but incredibly versatile orbital vehicle. Modern launchers, even those currently under development, are comparable to supercomputers, with large capacity and size but available only in the rooms of just a few multinational corporations, universities, or research centers around the planet. This strongly limits its use, due to the high costs and long waiting times for launching.
What we are creating is a universal tool that can be deployed from any location in the world, within a few hours and in total safety. A technology capable of going to and return from orbit several times a day, potentially offering anyone the freedom to access space. EOS technology is currently designed for microsatellites and soon for much more than that.
As personal computers in the 1980s contributed to the creation of the internet, we believe that a tool like EOS capable of giving everyone the freedom to perform spaceflight could have unimaginable positive implications”.
Raffaele Mauro, Partner of Primo Space, commented “The launcher market is going through a phase of profound transformation, and Sidereus is entering this market with an ambitious research and development plan. Primo Space has decided to focus on a young and highly competent team to transform a significant segment of the space economy”.
“Sidereus has strong technical know-how as well as a strong strategic vision of the founders. Supporting such innovative excellence from Naples makes us particularly proud” comments Francesca Ottier, Head of Fondo Italia Venture II – Fondo Imprese Sud of CDP Venture Capital Sgr,” Research and development of enabling technologies for aerospace in Italy are in strong growth and it is strategic to support them to ensure the competitiveness of this sector also at an international level “
The aim is to complete the entire development program by 2024 and inaugurate the first commercial orbital flights with the third and last EOS “Beatrice” prototype.
Sidereus Space Dynamics was founded in 2019 by Mattia Barbarossa with the support of Management Innovation. The group created together with Luca Principi, Co-Founder and COO, and Massimiliano Masciarelli, Co-Founder and CFO, is committed to the development of advanced space technologies.
The investment of the Funds in Sidereus has seen the involvement of Quantico Advisory, with Lorenzo Castellano, and of Aperto, with the partner Marco Messina, as financial co-advisors of the Founders and the historical partners of Sidereus, led by Management Innovation, a serial start-up incubator.
The Alma law firms, in the figure of Partner Roberto Nigro, and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, with Partner Andrea Piermartini Rosi, acted as legal advisors for the operation supporting the VC Funds and Sidereus respectively.