Over €2m · Other round · Space · Paris, France
ArcSpace, a Paris-based startup developing electron-beam tools for work on spacecraft, has raised over €2m in funding in a round led by DEPO Ventures through its DEPO Ventures One fund, with SCE Freiraum Ventures, IRDI Capital Investissement and a French business-angels network participating. According to EU-Startups, the capital will support team expansion, flight-hardware qualification and preparations for an autonomous in-orbit demonstration planned for 2027.
A welding tool for satellites not built for service
ArcSpace is adapting electron-beam processing, an established industrial method, to the vacuum, radiation, microgravity and temperature conditions of space. Its company site describes a compact 2U subsystem that can both weld and cut by changing how the beam is operated. The aim is to give servicing spacecraft a tool for attaching interfaces, joining structures or removing material without requiring the target satellite to have been designed for maintenance.
That distinction shapes the initial commercial opportunity. Many satellites already in orbit lack standard fixtures for inspection, refuelling or repair. ArcSpace is not building the entire servicing mission; it is trying to become the equipment supplier inside spacecraft that handle rendezvous, capture and intervention. FrenchWeb notes that this also creates a dependency: the tool only becomes useful when the wider mission chain is reliable and economical enough for an operator to choose intervention over replacement.
The 2027 mission is the proof point
The company says its system has passed high-vacuum and mechanical-vibration tests and that more than a dozen commercial companies have expressed interest. It also cites work with CNES, the European Space Agency and the European Defence Fund. The next step is materially harder: ArcSpace plans to demonstrate more than 100 seconds of fully autonomous welding aboard a spacecraft in 2027, before targeting commercial availability from 2028.
That flight is therefore a product milestone and a sales credential. Ground tests can show that the electron beam operates under simulated conditions; an orbital demonstration would give prospective spacecraft integrators evidence about autonomy, repeatability and debris-free operation in the environment where the tool must perform. The funding is best understood as capital to cross that qualification gap, rather than to build a complete satellite-repair service.
Longer term, the same cutting and joining capability could support large antennas, solar arrays, orbital structures and lunar construction. French Tech Journal reports that ArcSpace has identified almost 100 potential applications. The near-term business remains narrower: prove a compact subsystem in orbit, integrate it into servicing platforms and turn a planned 2027 demonstration into flight heritage customers can underwrite.
