Latvian startup Deep Space Energy said it has closed a pre-seed round totaling €930,000, combining €350,000 in private investment with €580,000 in public contracts and grants. The company said the funding will be used to further develop a radioisotope-based power generator and move it toward commercialisation. It positioned the work as supporting European space and defence capabilities as well as lunar surface exploration.
Deep Space Energy said the private round was led by Outlast Fund and Linas Sargautis, described as an angel investor and a former co-founder of NanoAvionics. It added that the additional €580,000 came through contracts and grants from the European Space Agency (ESA), NATO DIANA, and the Latvian government. The company did not provide a detailed timeline for when the generator would be flight-ready.
The company said its power generator converts heat from the natural decay of radioisotopes into electricity. It described the radioisotopes as materials that can be derived from nuclear waste. CEO and co-founder Dr. Mihails Ščepanskis said the approach has been validated in laboratory settings and is designed to require less radioisotope fuel than conventional radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) used in space.
Deep Space Energy said an initial application is an auxiliary energy source intended to increase the resilience of strategic satellites. Ščepanskis said the system is designed to provide backup power that does not depend on solar energy, which the company argues is relevant for high-value reconnaissance assets. The company said it is not developing a weapon and is targeting dual-use satellite operators.
The startup said its primary focus is on satellites operating in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), Geostationary Orbit (GEO) and Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO). It described these orbits as central to modern reconnaissance and early-warning architectures. The company cited use cases including synthetic aperture radar (SAR), signals intelligence, and missile-launch detection.
Ščepanskis said the war in Ukraine has underscored the operational value of satellite-derived reconnaissance data in modern conflict. He referenced a period in 2025 when the United States temporarily stopped sharing certain satellite intelligence, which he said coincided with Ukraine losing a position in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. He argued that Europe remains strategically exposed because it relies heavily on US defence space assets, including high-value GEO systems.
Deep Space Energy said it is also planning for longer-term applications tied to the Moon economy. The company said its generator is intended to address power constraints during lunar night operations and in permanently shadowed regions where solar energy is limited. It cited lunar rover and exploration programmes including NASA and ESA’s Artemis and Argonaut initiatives, as well as the Moon Village framework.
The company said lunar nights last roughly 354 hours and temperatures can drop below minus 150 degrees Celsius, limiting the usefulness of solar power for rovers. It said its design would use about 2 kg of Americium-241 to generate 50W for a lunar rover, compared with about 10 kg of radioisotope material for legacy RTG systems at similar output. It also cited projections that Americium-241 production could reach around 10 kg per year by the mid-2030s, and argued that higher fuel efficiency could expand mission cadence.
Ščepanskis said extending rover lifetimes across multiple day-night cycles—potentially up to a few years—could improve mission economics. He said payload delivery costs to the Moon can reach up to €1 million per kilogram and argued that longer rover lifetimes could reduce replacement costs. The company did not provide independent verification of those cost assumptions.
Outlast Fund partner Egita Poļanska said the investment aligns with the fund’s view that space energy systems may be approaching a step change due to materials advances and emerging commercial demand. Sargautis said the company adds to the Baltic region’s profile as an emerging space technology hub. He said he plans to support the company through connections with space systems integrators and by advising on contracting and expansion.
Deep Space Energy said it was founded in 2022 and operates a UK branch, Deep Space Energy Limited. It said it is developing a radioisotope power generator that uses heat produced by nuclear self-decay, with applications in deep-space science missions, lunar surface missions and high-value defence satellites. The company said it was the first from Latvia selected for NATO DIANA and has received ESA-related support alongside Latvian government backing and private funding.
