- Open Cosmos has secured €300 million in new funding, led by Lightrock, to expand its satellite manufacturing and data services.
- The funding follows ICEYE’s most recent €1 billion raise, which is intensifying competition in Europe’s space sector.
- Open Cosmos states that it has been profitable for five consecutive years, which distinguishes it from most other space startups.
Open Cosmos took only two and a half months to go from securing satellite spectrum licences to launching its first satellites, a speed rare for projects of this kind in Europe. The new €300 million investment is intended to accelerate the company’s growth.
ETF Partners, A&G Global Investors, Trill Impact, Santander Alternative Investments, and Claret Capital Partners, who had previously invested in the company, took part in this funding round alongside Lightrock.
Among the new investors are Entrepreneurs First, the Institut Català de Finances, Phoenix Court, the UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund, Convex Group, and two unnamed pension funds.
“Space infrastructure is becoming as critical as energy, digital networks and transport,” remarked founder and chief executive Rafel Jorda Siquier.
Industry data supports this perspective: in the first year, more-backed space companies raised $11.3 billion worldwide, exceeding the $10.1 billion reported by PitchBook. More European governments are considering orbital infrastructure to be just as important as power grids and ports.
From Airbus to Harwell
Jorda Siquier studied aerospace engineering at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, obtained an MBA, and then worked for Airbus Defence and Space as well as at the Barcelona-based startup zero2infinity before launching Open Cosmos in 2015 with Aleix Megias Homar and Jordi Barrera Ars.
The company completed its first satellite mission just eight months after it was set up and currently operates four factories in the UK, Spain, Portugal and Greece. Open Cosmos claims it can build a satellite each day.
The company consists of four main divisions.
OpenOrbit is responsible for designing and constructing satellites for customers. OpenConstellation enables governments and companies to share a satellite network rather than building their own. ConnectedCosmos provides secure broadband and Internet of Things (IoT) links between space and the ground. DataCosmos converts raw satellite images into useful information; for instance, a satellite can detect a temperature spike in a forest, identify it as a possible fire, and send an alert to firefighters, even when ground-based internet is unavailable.
Crowded orbit, different vision
Open Cosmos is far from the only European satellite company to receive substantial funding this year. ICEYE, a radar-imaging company from Finland, raised more than €1 billion in June and has since reached a value of over €10 billion, thanks to contracts with NATO for defence purposes. Loft Orbital, a company with origins in both France and the United States, has raised about $326 million so far and is now worth nearly $1 billion. Spire Global, a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is increasing its satellite production to between 300 and 400 units each year in the UK, the US and Germany.
Although these other companies specialise in particular areas, Open Cosmos aims to combine manufacturing, shared infrastructure, connectivity and data services. The company is focused on achieving profitability rather than simply aiming to rapidly increase its valuation, having reported a profit for five years running and achieved a 100% mission success rate, which differs from ICEYE’s strategy.
The most recent external financing the company obtained was a $50 million Series B round in September 2023. Over the past three and a half years, Open Cosmos has secured more than $370 million in new contracts.
The funds raised in this new round will be used to expand ConnectedCosmos, OpenConstellation and DataCosmos, as well as to support the growth of its team of about 400 people based in four locations.
UK Space Minister Baroness Lloyd described the funding as “a major vote of confidence… in Britain’s growing space sector” and linked it to the government’s new space strategy.
Europe is aiming to develop its own satellite capabilities, and firms such as Open Cosmos, ICEYE, Loft Orbital and Spire are all pursuing different approaches. The outcomes of these strategies are likely to differ.
