Blackswan Space, a Lithuanian space technology company developing autonomous spacecraft navigation systems, has raised €2.5 million in a funding round led by EstVCA member Iron Wolf Capital, with participation from existing investors Lemonade Stand and former NanoAvionics co-founder Linas Sargautis, as well as new investors NGL Ventures and Tomas Žalandauskas.
Founded in 2019, Blackswan Space is developing autonomous technologies for spacecraft, including its Mission Design Simulator (MDS) for modelling autonomous space missions and the RPO Kit, a plug-and-play payload that uses vision-based target detection, identification and tracking to enable spacecraft to perform complex navigation manoeuvres around other objects.
“A satellite in orbit today is blind and deaf without the ground. It cannot tell what has parked next to it, avoid a collision on its own, or be easily repaired or refueled. Blackswan Space is working to change that. Its navigation payload gives spacecraft their own eyes and the intelligence to maneuver relative to another object. At Iron Wolf Capital, we back the technologies Europe cannot afford to depend on third countries to provide, and we back them early. Autonomy in orbit is one of them, and Blackswan is building it,” said Viktoras Jucikas, Founding Partner at Iron Wolf Capital
The company’s technology is designed to support autonomous spacecraft operations including asset inspection and servicing, collision avoidance and operations management. Blackswan has already commercialised its Mission Design Simulator and secured customers in Europe and the US, including Auria Space.
The latest funding will accelerate the commercialisation of the RPO Kit and support Blackswan’s expansion in the US. The company plans to test the payload in orbit in Q4 2027, ahead of ASTRAL, Europe’s first in-space refuelling demonstration mission, planned for 2028. The mission is backed by up to €3.3 million from the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency.
Blackswan Space has grown to a team of 25 people across Vilnius, London and Denver. The latest round brings the company’s total funding to €3.2 million.