PAVE Space Raises $40M for Orbital Transfer Vehicles

PAVE Space SA Raises $40M to Accelerate Development of Orbital Transfer Vehicles

Swiss startup Pave Space has raised $40 million to develop spacecraft designed to rapidly transport satellites from low Earth orbit to higher-energy orbits.

The funding round was led by Visionaries Club and Creandum, with participation from Lombard Odier Investment Managers, Atlantic Labs, SISTAFUND, b2venture, ACE Investment Partners, Ilavaska Vuillermoz Capital, and Pareto & Motier Ventures.

Founded in 2024 in Lausanne by CEO Julie Böhning and CTO Jérémy Marciacq, the company is focused on solving a growing bottleneck in the space economy: moving satellites efficiently beyond low Earth orbit.

Today, many satellites rely on onboard electric propulsion to gradually reach operational orbits such as MEO or GEO, a process that can take six to twelve months and delay revenue generation.

Pave Space is developing a family of orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs), including a heavy kickstage system capable of delivering satellites to their target orbits in under 24 hours. The platform uses storable bipropellants, avoiding the limitations of cryogenic fuels and enabling longer-duration missions.

A smaller, more agile vehicle is also in development to support responsive and dual-use applications.

The company’s vertically integrated approach, developing propulsion, avionics, control systems, and structures in-house, aims to accelerate engineering cycles and improve system performance.

Its long-term goal is to serve as a logistics backbone for space operations spanning Earth orbit, lunar missions, and beyond, while contributing to Europe’s sovereign space capabilities.

Pave Space reports early commercial traction, with eight reservation agreements already secured and ongoing discussions with major industry players.

The company is targeting its first in-space demonstration mission in 2026, with the new funding expected to support vehicle development, team expansion, and initial flight validation.

Image Credits: Pave Space