€10.2 million. That is what deltaVision, a Munich-based fluidic systems manufacturer, just raised in its first external funding round. The money is earmarked for one purpose: building the plumbing for in-orbit refueling.
70% of the proceeds will expand manufacturing output fivefold, including a new US facility by year-end; 30% will fund R&D for in-orbit refueling subsystems.
The company has been profitable since its 2022 founding, serves 60+ customers across four continents, and supplies components for ESA's Argonaut lunar lander.
The supply chain bottleneck that launched a funding round
Spacecraft manufacturers have a problem: demand is accelerating faster than the component supply chain can keep up. As constellation operators order satellites by the thousand, launch providers scale toward weekly cadence, and government agencies lock in lunar lander contracts, the companies that make the valves, pumps, and regulators that keep spacecraft alive are hitting capacity ceilings.
It is one of them, except it has been profitable since day one. It grew from a three-person spinout to 134 employees in a former Siemens plant in Munich without taking a single euro of venture capital. The €10.2M round, led by KT Ventures and Valemount Capital (both doubling down after their earlier convertible loan), is its first outside funding. The company waited until it was already cash-flow positive before raising dilutive capital. That says something about the segment it operates in.
"We're not investing in a promise; we're investing in a profitable business model with enormous tailwinds and international growth opportunities," Johannes Pichler of KT Ventures told SpaceNews.
The space component supply chain has been structurally under-invested for years. While billion-dollar constellation builds and headline-grabbing launch contracts attract the bulk of venture attention, the companies making the hardware that connects fuel tanks to engines operate on thinner margins, longer qualification cycles, and procurement processes that reward incumbents. The company's edge, according to CEO Alex Plebuch, is speed. Not necessarily better technology, but the ability to deliver in weeks rather than the months or years customers have come to expect from traditional aerospace suppliers. As we wrote in July, the question of who builds the gas stations in space is an $8 billion one, and it will be answered by companies that can scale production before the orbital economy outruns the industrial base supporting it.
Funding Round
Munich-based fluidic systems manufacturer raised €10.2M led by KT Ventures and Valemount Capital to scale production of valves, pumps, and pressure regulators for spacecraft propulsion. First external funding since a ~€1.2M convertible loan. · Payload Space, July 2026
What deltaVision actually makes
The company's product line is narrower than its funding story might suggest. It does not build satellites, refueling depots, or orbital tugs. It manufactures the fluidic subsystems: solenoid valves, regulation valves, fill and drain valves, pressure regulators, and BLDC motors. These control the movement of propellant, pressurants, and other fluids inside spacecraft and launchers. Think of it as the cardiovascular system for space vehicles: invisible, critical, and hellish to qualify.
Founded in 2022 by Alex Plebuch, Denis Kiefel, and Matthias Guenther, it achieved space heritage in 2025 — a milestone that matters more in aerospace than in any other industry because component flight heritage is a procurement requirement, not a marketing badge. ESA has already tapped the company for 50+ components on its Argonaut lunar lander, and Plebuch plans to repurpose those technologies for the commercial lunar lander market.
The company's strategic bet is that in-orbit refueling will create a new class of demand for fluid transfer components. Fuel depots, servicing vehicles, and orbital tugs all require the same plumbing that it already provides for launchers and satellites, but at higher volumes and with interoperability standards that don't yet exist.
The refueling thesis — why now
The on-orbit satellite servicing market reached $3.18 billion in 2026, growing at 10.1% annually, and is projected to hit $6.87 billion by 2034. Companies like Orbit Fab (refueling ports), Astroscale (debris removal), and Starfish Space (multi-mission servicing) are all pursuing adjacent pieces of the same puzzle. Its wager is that all of them will need valves, and that a single interoperable standard will win rather than a dozen proprietary ones.
"We envision an open and interoperable in-orbit-services ecosystem rather than the winner-takes-all approach," Plebuch told Payload Space. "An interoperable ecosystem will dramatically increase the overall market size and hence benefit every single stakeholder."
Manufacturing as a moat
Its stated differentiator is not technological superiority over US competitors but manufacturing speed. The company plans to scale output to 5,000 units per year, up from current levels, with lead times measured in weeks rather than months. This matters because the space supply chain is experiencing the same kind of demand shock that semiconductor fabs saw in 2021-2023: too many customers chasing too few qualified suppliers.
Under an April 2026 agreement, US firm Mott Corp began offering its valve solutions for spacecraft propulsion flow control. The partnership gives the German startup a US distribution channel before its own American manufacturing facility is operational. The US plant, funded by the new round, is expected online by the end of 2026, targeting large national programs that require domestic production.
The forecast for in-orbit refueling infrastructure
The first integrated refueling payload is scheduled for March 2027. At current cadence, commercial refueling services become available by 2029, and a full orbital fuel logistics layer — depots, tugs, standardized interfaces — reaches operational scale around 2032.
✅ Arguments for
Confirmation criteria: A commercial refueling demonstration between two non-government satellites before 2028, or a DoD contract for orbital fuel storage.
❌ Arguments against
Disconfirmation criteria: A major refueling demo failure between 2027-2028, or consolidation of refueling startups without commercial contracts.
First integrated refueling payload launch (target: March 2027)
Tetra-5 and Tetra-6 refueling hardware demonstrations (Astroscale, Northrop Grumman, Orbit Fab — 2026/2027)
US manufacturing facility operational status (target: end of 2026)
Adoption of a common refueling interface standard across ≥3 orbital servicing companies
Development scenarios
🟢 Optimistic scenario (20%)
Implications: First-mover advantage in refueling components translates into a durable market position comparable to Moog or Cobham in aerospace actuation.
🟡 Base-case scenario (60%)
Implications: Steady revenue growth from traditional spacecraft propulsion components, with refueling as upside optionality.
🔴 Pessimistic scenario (20%)
Implications: No refueling revenue materializes; it continues as a traditional aerospace component supplier with moderate growth.
