UNIVITY Raises €27M Series A

UNIVITY has raised €27M ($31.6M) Series A to continue building its connectivity demo in VLEO.  Blast Club and Expansion Venture Capital contributed to the round, which also included support from the Deep Tech fund managed by Bpifrance.  UNIVITY 101: The company believes it offers two benefits compared with other in-space connectivity companies. Operating closer to Earth in VLEO at ~375 km, which offers lower latency and better performance. Using 5G spectrum, to make sure services work with existing mobile networks.  Big plans : The French startup will use the funding to: Grow its workforce; Conduct uniShape, its 5G connectivity demo mission in VLEO using two sats.  “These two VLEO 5g satellites will complete our de-risking phase of the project, by testing end-to-end all our software and hardware…paving the ground for the third and last step of our roadmap that consists of deploying at scale,” Charles Delfieux, the president and founder of UNIVITY, told Payload.  What’s next: The demo is intended to set up Univity’s launch into commercial operations in 2028 with its uniSky constellation—a several-billion-Euro investment that will include up to 3,400 satellites, Delfieux said. The company’s long-term goal is to build two sats per day, which can be launched in batches of 30 roughly once a month. “We will manage our launch frequency in such a way that at the end of the seven-year cycle, we start replenishing the first orbital plane,” Delfieux said.  Douglas Gorman contributed to this report. Related Stories VC/PE Observable Space Raises $90M Series A Space-tech startup Observable Space has closed a $90M Series A to boost its production of laser and optical hardware—in addition to expanding internationally beyond the US. Europe • Startups • Technology Exclusive: Stellar Alpina Raises $4.5M to Build Rotating Detonation Engines A European propulsion startup is trying to bring a new kind of thrust to the market. Europe • International • Policy ESA Chief Calls on Europe to Double Funds for Space Europe has made huge strides increasing public funds to grow its space economy, but to some in the industry, enough is not enough. Civil • EO • Europe ESA Approves Two Scout Science Missions Europe is on a mission to prove that groundbreaking science can be done on the cheap. More Stories Civil • Policy Lawmakers Promise to Reject Proposed NASA Cuts—Again Jacqueline Feldscher April 22, 2026 April 22, 2026 Share Twitter Linkedin Facebook Copy Email NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman testifies before the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. Image: NASA/Joel Kowsky Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle said they were committed to boosting NASA’s FY2027 budget, during a hearing on Wednesday morning.  Context: The Trump administration proposed an $18.8B NASA budget—a $5.6B cut from the funding level approved by Congress for FY2026. The topline funding level—and the proposed cuts—largely mirror the administration’s budget request last year for the space agency, which was overwhelmingly rejected by Congress. It sounds like history may repeat itself—at least, if it’s up to bipartisan members of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. Keep reading Load More