“I talked to 600+ investors. For the first 10 years, we raised just €10 million. One US investor looked me in the eye and said Luca, you’re a liar. It’s all fake. It’s impossible.”
He wasn’t lying. He was building the first logistics company for outer space.
In today’s episode of BitBuilders, we had Luca Rossettini, CEO & Founder of D-Orbit, and we got to learn about how a failed astronaut dream turned into a 600-person space logistics company,
why Europe’s engineering talent gave them an unexpected edge over the US, the wild roadmap from recycling dead satellites to building ships that reach Mars… and so much more.
Tune in to find out about:
✅ How D-Orbit went from a 3-person team selling to $400M satellite operators and why nobody trusted them
✅ Why Luca came back from NASA to start in Italy instead of staying in Silicon Valley (and the brutal reality of “just go to the US” advice)
✅ The vision for orbital warehouses, cloud computing in space, and laser energy stations that sound like sci-fi but are actually on the roadmap
✅ His raw answer on what it takes to build something in an industry where “the experts are experts of the past, not experts of the future”
Oh, and his definition of personal success? Not revenue. Not an IPO. He wants to personally pilot his own spaceship. That’s it. That’s why he built the whole thing.
🎧 Watch now on Spotify & Youtube 👇
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to The Orbit and Its Vision
01:58 The Evolution of The Orbit’s Products
06:03 Understanding the Satellite Market and Customer Base
09:49 Standardization and Automation in Satellite Manufacturing
15:04 Luca Rossettini’s Journey to Founding The Orbit
22:10 The Global Operations of The Orbit
24:19 Navigating the US Market: Lessons Learned
27:06 Innovative Product Roadmap and Market Timing
31:07 The Importance of Cybersecurity in Space
33:42 Future Business Lines and In-Orbit Services
39:33 Talent Acquisition and Company Culture
42:48 Defining Success in the Space Industry
