ORBES

Cover Block

Name	ORBES (Orbital Exploration Systems)
Tagline	Builds autonomous space robots starting with ORB drone for inspection and filming in space stations. [Techstars Job Board]
Headquarters	San Jose, CA, USA [Techstars Job Board]
Founded	2024 [PitchBook]
Stage	Pre-Seed
Business Model	Hardware + Software
Industry	Deeptech
Technology	Robotics
Geography	North America
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Solo Founder

Links

• Website: https://orbes.space/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/orbesspace

The Short Version

ORBES is a pre-seed startup developing autonomous robotics for the commercial space station market. Founded in 2024 by Anna Shaposhnik, the company's initial product is ORB, a patent-pending free-flying drone designed for interior inspection, monitoring, and cinematic filming [Techstars Job Board]. The company claims its technology could save operators over $100 million annually per station by automating tasks currently performed by astronauts [ORBES website]. Shaposhnik's background includes marketing and design roles at space infrastructure company Orbit Fab and the USC Rocket Propulsion Lab [ContactOut, Personal Portfolio]. The company's participation in Techstars Global provides a structured accelerator framework, but capitalization is not publicly disclosed and no named customers or deployments have been verified.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core company description corroborated by Techstars and Crunchbase; founder background and product claims are single-sourced or company-only.

Taxonomy Snapshot

Axis	Classification
Stage	Pre-Seed
Business Model	Hardware + Software
Industry / Vertical	Deeptech
Technology Type	Robotics
Geography	North America
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Solo Founder

The Company in Brief

ORBES, a legal entity operating as Orbital Exploration Systems, was incorporated in 2024 and is headquartered in San Jose, California [PitchBook]. The company's founding narrative centers on developing autonomous robots for the interior of orbital habitats, beginning with a free-flying inspection drone [Techstars Job Board].

The company's participation in the Techstars Global accelerator program represents a significant, publicly verifiable step [Techstars Job Board]. Public materials describe the ORB drone as "patent-pending" [ORBES website]. No public customer deployments, major partnership announcements, or detailed technical demonstration dates have been recorded.

The founding team is led by solo founder Anna Shaposhnik, who serves as CEO. Her professional background includes a prior role in brand and marketing at in-space refueling startup Orbit Fab and graphic design work for a university rocketry lab [ContactOut & Personal Portfolio].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core company facts (founding year, HQ, accelerator participation) are corroborated by multiple databases. Founder attribution and product status are from single sources or the company itself.

What They Have Built

ORBES's product strategy begins with a single, focused hardware platform. The company's first offering is ORB, a patent-pending, free-flying drone designed for operation inside space stations [ORBES website]. The product is positioned as a multi-purpose inspection and monitoring tool, with the company stating it can be configured for visual and thermal imaging, as well as air quality anomaly detection [Techstars Job Board]. The core value proposition is continuous, automated oversight, enabling 24/7 filming and live monitoring to replace manual astronaut labor [ORBES website].

ORBES emphasizes terrestrial training, claiming to train space robots on Earth for a fraction of the cost [ORBES website]. The company asserts ORB can save over $100 million per station annually [ORBES website].

Data Accuracy: ORANGE -- Product details are sourced from the company's own website and a Techstars listing; technical capabilities and economic claims are unverified by independent sources.

Market Research and Opportunity

The market for in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (ISAM) is moving from government-led demonstration to commercial necessity. The planned decommissioning of the ISS around 2030 creates a multi-station future. NASA has quantified astronaut time costs at roughly $130,000 per hour [NASA Office of Inspector General, 2021]. ORBES's claim of saving "$100M+ per station annually" targets this substitution [ORBES website].

A 2023 report by Northern Sky Research forecast the global market for in-space servicing and logistics to reach $4.3 billion by 2032, up from $586 million in 2022 [NSR, 2023]. Morgan Stanley estimates the commercial space economy could surpass $1 trillion by 2040, up from approximately $350 billion in 2020 [Morgan Stanley Research, 2020].

Metric	Value
ISS Astronaut Hourly Cost	0.13 $M
ISAM Market 2022	0.586 $B
ISAM Market 2032 (Projected)	4.3 $B
Global Space Economy 2040 (Projected)	1000 $B

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Market sizing from third-party analyst reports (NSR, Morgan Stanley); cost driver cited from NASA OIG. Company-specific savings claim is unverified.

Who Else Is Fighting for This

ORBES enters a nascent market for commercial space robotics, where its initial product focus on intra-station inspection places it against specialized startups and adjacent offerings from established aerospace contractors.

Company	Positioning	Stage / Funding	Notable Differentiator	Source
ORBES	Free-flying drone for inspection & filming inside space stations	Pre-Seed / Techstars Global	Patent-pending ORB drone; emphasizes cinematic filming and anomaly detection for commercial stations	[ORBES website] [Techstars]
GITAI	General-purpose robotic arms & telepresence systems for on-orbit servicing	Venture Series B ($80M+ total raised)	Focus on labor automation for space infrastructure; has demonstrated robotic arm on the ISS	[PitchBook]
Astrobotic	Lunar logistics, payload delivery, and surface mobility	Late-stage venture / Public contracts	Established track record with NASA CLPS contracts; core business is payload delivery, not intra-station robotics	[Crunchbase]

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitor profiles are based on public database entries (Crunchbase, PitchBook). Direct competitive analysis for the specific intra-station drone segment is inferred due to limited public deal flow.

Opportunity

If ORBES successfully executes its vision of autonomous space robots, the prize is a foundational role in the operational backbone of a commercial space economy. The company's initial wedge is a free-flying drone, ORB, designed for internal station tasks like inspection and filming [Techstars Job Board]. The company has defined a specific, patent-pending product and aligned with a major accelerator, Techstars Global [Techstars Job Board, PitchBook].

Scenario	What happens	Catalyst	Why it's plausible
Station Operator Anchor	ORB becomes the standard inspection drone on one or more commercial stations, leading to fleet-wide adoption and service contracts.	A design win or partnership with a major station developer like Axiom Space or Voyager Space's Starlab.	The company's product claim directly targets station operators for cost savings, and the broader market is actively developing [ORBES website]. Competitor GITAI has demonstrated similar technology aboard the International Space Station, validating the demand [GITAI].
Government Agency Adoption	NASA or a similar agency contracts ORBES for technology demonstration or operational use aboard the International Space Station or Lunar Gateway.	Selection for a NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant or a Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) mission.	The company's focus on safety and inspection aligns with agency priorities for autonomous systems. Early-stage space robotics firms frequently use government programs for funding and flight heritage.
Vertical Expansion to External Robotics	Success with the internal ORB drone funds development of the planned EVA robotic assistants, opening the much larger market for external station assembly and satellite servicing.	Securing a venture round specifically earmarked for hardware development and in-space demonstration.	The company's public roadmap explicitly cites scaling toward EVA assistants [ORBES website]. The external robotics market is less crowded than internal drones and commands higher contract values for complex tasks.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- The company's product claims and roadmap are sourced from its own website and a Techstars job board, with limited independent verification.

Sources

1. [Techstars Job Board] ORBES | Techstars Job Board, https://jobs.techstars.com/companies/orbes-2
2. [PitchBook] ORBES 2026 Company Profile: Valuation, Funding & Investors | PitchBook, https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/1131590-53
3. [ORBES website] ORBES, https://orbes.space/
4. [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief] ORBES: Space Robotics Startup
5. [ContactOut & Personal Portfolio] Anna Shaposhnik Email & Phone Number | CEO @ORBES | Filming gone weightless | ex-Orbit Fab | USC RPL, https://contactout.com/anna-shaposhnik-58996
6. [Crunchbase] ORBES - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding, https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/orbes-5064
7. [NASA Office of Inspector General, 2021] NASA Office of Inspector General Report, https://oig.nasa.gov/docs/IG-21-025.pdf
8. [NSR, 2023] Northern Sky Research ISAM Market Report, https://www.nsr.com/research/in-space-servicing-assembly-and-manufacturing-market/
9. [Morgan Stanley Research, 2020] Morgan Stanley Space Economy Report, https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/investing-in-space
10. [GITAI] GITAI Company Information, https://gitai.tech/
11. [Reuters, 2025] Astrobotic SPAC Merger Valuation, https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/astrobotic-go-public-via-spac-2025-02-20/