Headquartered in Paris dark Its mobile platform is designed to launch, attach and ultimately deorbit uncooperative space objects, thereby solving the twin problems of debris and conflict in orbit.
Dark CEO Clyde Laheyne said the company’s goal is to become a space SWAT team.
The three-year-old startup is developing the Interceptor, a spacecraft that is essentially a rocket-powered boxing glove that can be launched at short notice to gently knock wayward objects out of their orbit. .
The interceptors are launched from specially equipped aircraft. Like a Virgin Galactic launch, the plane will take the rocket high above the turbulent lower atmosphere, where it can be released and ignited. Once the rocket reaches the target object, the spacecraft separates and uses onboard sensors and propulsion to find and approach it. When it’s aligned correctly, the interceptor uses its buffered “effectors” to nudge the object, eventually derailing it.
Rahian said all space agencies are organized to carry out planned long-term missions, but orbital defense is more of an unplanned short-term mission. He explained that in this sense, the “Interceptor” is more like an anti-aircraft missile. It must be ready at all times. There’s no reason not to use it.
However, unlike actual missiles or anti-satellite weapons, a mild strike from an interceptor will not create a debris field or any other dangerous, unpredictable effects.
Dark was founded by Laheyne and CTO Guillaume Orvain, engineers who cut their teeth at multinational missile developer MBDA. This working experience is reflected in the interception concept, which is designed to be on call, similar to missile systems. Laheyne said this is why Dark is developing its own launch platform: to ensure defense, civilian and commercial companies are immediately ready.
Dark co-founder Guillaume Orvain. Image Source: dark
Dark completed $5 million in financing in 2021, with a shareholding structure comprised of European investors, including lead investor Eurazeo. The team closed a $6 million extension yesterday, which included participation from its first U.S. investor, Long Journey Ventures. (The fund is led by Arielle Zuckerberg, sister of Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg.)
The company still has a lot of work to do before it can get close to removing objects like abandoned rocket second stages from orbit. Duck has been focused on developing critical systems such as cryogenic engines and software. Now, the team is turning its focus to developing the technologies needed for the types of unplanned rapid missions the interceptor will perform, such as long-range detection and tracking, autonomous flight algorithms and reliable controlled reentry systems.
The team will also have to retrofit an aircraft, which Laheyne estimates could cost $50 million, roughly the price of building a new launch pad, and get the entire platform ready for a 2026 demonstration mission.
The mission will validate many of the core technologies of the full-scale platform, although it’s not actually designed to deorbit an object, just touch one. Even so, it’s incredibly ambitious: No company has yet cracked the so-called rendezvous and proximity operations, which means getting close to and interacting with another object in space.
A second demonstration mission is currently planned for 2027, will Including derailment attempts. If all goes according to plan, the company will begin deorbiting objects for allied civilian agencies. “As far as defense customers are concerned, hopefully we won’t have to use it,” Rahian said.
I’ve been studying missiles for years, and it’s always the same theme: If you use it first, it’s an act of war. If you are the second, this is a defensive behavior. He said if you can do it and people know you can do it, that’s dissuasion. The ideal approach is to discourage, and the system makes conflict unthinkable.
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