TL;DR / Executive Summary
- Seraphim portfolio company ATMOS Space Cargo has closed a €25.7 million Series A funding round.
- Seraphim participated in the round, having previously invested in ATMOS’ Seed Round in 2023.
- The investment establishes Europe’s first routine orbital return capability through ATMOS’ PHOENIX vehicles, which carry payloads to Low Earth Orbit and return them safely using an inflatable heat shield, reducing reliance on non-European providers.
- Funds will build a three-vehicle PHOENIX 2 fleet, launch ATMOS WORKS for government and defence customers, and develop the larger PHOENIX 3 vehicle capable of returning one-tonne payloads.
ATMOS Space Cargo, a European company developing orbital transport and re-entry vehicles, has closed a €25.7 million Series A financing round. The funding will support an initial three-vehicle PHOENIX 2 fleet, the launch of ATMOS WORKS for governmental and defence customers, and development of PHOENIX 3, the company’s next-generation orbital return vehicle.
The round is co-led by Balnord and Expansion, and joined by Keen Defence and Security. The European Innovation Council (EIC) participates through its Accelerator programme via blended financing, combining grant and equity components. Additional investors include OTB Ventures, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), APEX Ventures, Seraphim, Faber, E2MC, Kirch Ventures, Lennertz & Co., Mätch VC, MBG Baden-Württemberg, and Tech Horizons.
PHOENIX 2 Fleet: Three-Flight Campaign
Following its PHOENIX 1 demonstration flight in April 2025, the company is now moving from demonstration to routine operations. Three PHOENIX 2 orbital transfer and return vehicles (OTRVs) will be constructed and operated as a phased operational mission campaign, servicing institutional and commercial clients across a range of payload and mission profiles.
PHOENIX 2 is a free-flying spacecraft equipped with integrated propulsion and power systems, capable of mission durations from hours to several months in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The vehicle performs autonomous de-orbit, controlled atmospheric re-entry using ATMOS’ Inflatable Atmospheric Decelerator (IAD) technology, which serves as both heat shield and aerodynamic brake. Its non-ablative design minimizes material loss and environmental impact while maximizing payload-to-mass efficiency and re-entry precision for rapid payload recovery. Initial recovery operations are being prepared near Santa Maria in the Azores, under Portugal’s ANACOM-09/2026-AE licence enabling commercial orbital re-entry operations under a continental European Union member state’s jurisdiction.
The three-flight campaign creates an initial operational cadence, reduces programme risk, and gives research institutions, industrial customers, and government users a clear path to fly missions. In doing so, it begins to turn orbital return into a repeatable European service rather than a one-off demonstration.
ATMOS WORKS: A Dedicated Entity for European Governmental and Defence Institutions
ATMOS Space Cargo is launching ATMOS WORKS, a dedicated business focused on space logistics and operational capabilities for European governmental and defence customers. The PHOENIX platform’s dual-use architecture supports mission profiles including in-orbit demonstration and validation (IOD/IOV) , secure and sovereign return of sensitive hardware and data, and responsive time-critical operations.
Further details on ATMOS WORKS will be announced separately.
PHOENIX 3: Next-Generation Orbital Return Vehicle Development
ATMOS has begun development of PHOENIX 3, a next-generation orbital transfer and re-entry vehicle designed for a payload capacity of approximately one metric tonne – roughly ten times that of the PHOENIX 2.
The vehicle is being designed to address larger payload classes, aggregated multi-customer missions, and future institutional and security requirements.
PHOENIX 3 is intended to meet the needs of Europe’s evolving space economy, supporting sovereign access to and from orbit, independent technology validation, and the long-term needs of European industry, government, and security users.
Further details on the PHOENIX 3 programme will be announced in the coming weeks.
STATEMENTS
“This financing allows us to move to regular operational service. A structured campaign of three vehicles establishes Europe’s first routine orbital return infrastructure. PHOENIX 2 is the first step to build a scalable European return infrastructure that will demonstrate our ability to access, operate, and return materials, data, and hardware from orbit independently. With ATMOS WORKS and PHOENIX 3, we are building the full architecture – commercial, institutional, and defence-capable – in parallel.”
Sebastian Klaus, CEO and Co-Founder, ATMOS Space Cargo
