Orbital Matter

Orbital Matter is a Polish in-space manufacturing startup founded in 2022 by Jakub Stojek (CEO) and Robert Ihnatisin (CTO), who met at Entrepreneur First in Berlin. The operating company, Orbital Matter Poland sp. z o.o., is registered in Warsaw, and a German subsidiary, Orbital Matter UG, is registered in Dusseldorf. The company sums up its model as 'designed in Germany, made in Poland, built in orbit'. Its aim is to build structures in orbit, such as solar arrays, radiators and antennas, that are too large to fold into a launch fairing.

The process stores a liquid photopolymer resin in the printer module, pushes it through an extrusion head and hardens it within seconds under UV light. This avoids the heat-management problems of melt-based printing in vacuum. The whole print mechanism runs on a single motor. The company says the method also works with thermoplastic feedstock, and that its baseline material is an aerospace-rated photopolymer chosen for low outgassing and radiation resistance. The output is a continuous, joint-free rigid boom with no hinges, latches or tensioning systems.

Its product is PADS (Printer Assisted Deployment System), a self-contained, plug-and-play module that builds structural booms autonomously in orbit to deploy large appendages. Published nominal specifications are booms of 10 m to more than 100 m, an adjustable diameter of 38-90 mm, a stowed size of 96 x 96 x 300-3,000 mm, a mass of 2-20 kg, 20 W peak power, 10 N deploy force and 1 m/h deploy speed. PADS also keeps an electrical connection from boom tip to satellite and can optionally retract the payload. Orbital Matter says PADS has passed flight qualification (TRL 8). Its roadmap runs from PADS in 2027 to kilometre-scale solar arrays and radiators in 2028, and then a refillable 'universal' 3D printer for stations, data centres and lunar infrastructure from 2030.

The company tests its hardware through frequent flights. Its first Replicator CubeSat, a 3U spacecraft (10 x 10 x 30 cm) designed to print a 50 cm beam at about 580 km altitude, flew on the maiden Ariane 6 launch in July 2024 through ESA's PUSH opportunity, with launch management by RIDE! Space. Replicator 2, an 8U CubeSat of about 13 kg carrying four 1U printer modules, launched on SpaceX's Transporter-17 on 7 July 2026. Two of its printed booms are meant to deploy a stowed flexible solar array demonstrator; the other two deploy an antenna mock-up and a camera. One antenna test is a joint demonstration with Thales Alenia Space of a deployable VHF antenna, following the company's time in the Thales Alenia Space Business Catalyst accelerator. On 12 August 2026 Orbital Matter reported that one of the printers had extruded and cured resin in open vacuum, filmed by the printer's own camera, and called it the first 3D print outside a pressurised spacecraft.

Orbital Matter's backers include Entrepreneur First, Dhyan VC, Sunfish Partners and Early Game Ventures, which led a 1 million euro seed round announced in August 2025. In July 2026 it received 500,000 euros from the European Innovation Council's Pre-Accelerator.