Tumbleweed raises €6.9 million to expand orbital experiments

Sending a laboratory experiment into space can mean years of preparation. Tumbleweed, a Vienna-based company that carries research into orbit, wants customers to send an experiment in a box already cleared for spaceflight instead. It announced €6.9 million in new funding to expand the service. The company says its containers handle power, communications, and spaceflight certification, with missions starting at €15,000.

The appeal is letting researchers concentrate on their experiments while someone else handles the spacecraft. Tumbleweed says all its customers so far have been first-time space users. The company plans to use the new money for further flights and development of a larger spacecraft. Returning physical samples is still ahead: the company plans that capability for 2028.