D-Orbit opened today in Lisbon a development center - D-Orbit PT, after having won in 2013 the Caixa Capital Award in the Products & Services track of Building Global Innovators 3rd edition (BGI).

1. BGI / Caixa Capital bring international high tech space venture to Portugal
D-Orbit opens development center in Portugal
Lisbon, 21st March 2014: D-Orbit opened today in Lisbon a development center - D-Orbit PT, after having won
in 2013 the Caixa Capital Award in the Products & Services track of Building Global Innovators 3rd edition
(BGI).
D-Orbit develops Decommissioning Devices to be installed on artificial satellites before launch and able to
bring them back into the atmosphere and destroy them when they stop working, providing a sustainable
access to Space. By offering to satellites owners a reliable and cost-effective product to increase their lifetime
in orbit, decrease the complexity of the decommissioning maneuver and to avoid costs deriving from collisions
with other spacecrafts or assets on Earth, D-Orbit is the solution to Space Pollution. This Decommissioning
Device is the first active and smart solution for the Space Debris problem.
With headquarters in Italy, Milan, and a subsidiary in the USA, California, the Portuguese company
established in Lisbon located at the Labs Lisboa incubator, it will focus on mainly software development.
However, Luca Rossettini, D-Orbit's CEO, is already looking for partners among the Portuguese space
industries, research centers and universities, for participating in projects for Horizon 2020 European
Community space program and European Space Agency calls.
D-Orbit is the first international startup identified & supported by BGI and Caixa Capital to incorporate in
Portugal specifically to develop a relevant part of its business and generate value & create highly qualified
jobs. The opening comes after the successful space launch of the most critical components of D-Orbit
technology after a strict qualification on ground according to space industry standards. An important milestone
to place the product on the market, start mitigating the space debris issue and ensure a clean and safe
access to space.
For Stephan Morais Caixa Capital Executive Director, “the awarding of the Caixa Capital Award to D-Orbit is a
testament to our commitment to demonstrating Portugal’s ability to foster the growth of world class high tech
companies and provide an important contribution to the development of the burgeoning European space

2. industry. It shows that Portugal is a competitive and compelling location for innovation, driven by cutting edge
companies.”
For Gonçalo Amorim, BGI Director mentioned “we are extremely excited to see Portugal's talent and
ecosystem at large being recognized internationally with D-Orbit Portugal. By furthering BGI's mission of
placing Portugal on the global horizon of the innovation value chain, we are on the right track of creating
highly qualified jobs for our engineers as well as generating enormous value to high technology, “born global”
startups that are working on disruptive technologies, such as D-Orbit.”
More information
Building Global Innovators (BGI)
The competition created in 2010 is part of the partnership between ISCTE- IUL, MIT-Portugal Program, Caixa Capital and MIT entities.
The Caixa Capital Awards of €1M in financial support was design to award annually the 4 most innovative finalist startups. Currently,
BGI holds 55 active companies in its portfolio that have raised some form of funding to support their ventures, totaling €22M and
created over 160 highly qualified jobs. (www.mitportugal-bgi.org | Facebook | Twitter).
Caixa Capital
Caixa Capital is the Venture Capital and Private Equity arm of the Caixa Geral de Depósitos Group and is fully owned by Caixa Banco
de Investimento. Caixa Capital is currently one of the main operators in the Portuguese market and has the capacity to intervene in all
stages of the company life cycle. Caixa Capital’s mission is to invest in funds and companies with significant growth and potential, in
order to generate adequate returns relative to the risk of its investments, contributing to the sustainable development of the
Portuguese business environment. Through the various funds it manages, Caixa Capital participates as an active partner, or as a
capital investor through third-party funds, in the creation and development of technology and service-based businesses, as well as
industrial and large exporting companies, preferably in tradable goods sectors. Currently with more than €750 million under
management and a portfolio of over 80 investments, Caixa Capital is a reference in this area with special links to the respective
European sector associations.(www.caixacapital.pt).
D-Orbit
D-Orbit is a European Venture backed company committed to commercialize sustainable solutions for a profitable space, developing
products for space debris mitigation and guaranteeing a safe and clean access to space. (http://www.deorbitaldevices.com/ |
Facebook | Twitter).
CONTACTS:
BGI Caixa Capital D-Orbit
Catarina Madeira Walter Palma Luca Rossettini
catarina.madeira@iscte.pt walter.palma@caixacapital.pt info@deorbitaldevices.com
Telephone: +351 210 464 030