UK-based satellite maker Open Cosmos announced on 14 September that it had closed a €300 million funding round. The company said it would use the new funding to expand its manufacturing capacity and accelerate the deployment of its Earth observation and communications constellations.
The €300 million raise represents the company’s first major publicly announced funding round since September 2023, when it secured $50 million in Series B funding. The round was led by venture investors including UK-based Lightrock, ETF Partners and Entrepreneurs First, alongside Catalonia’s public financial institution, Institut Català de Finances. Two unnamed international pension funds were also among the lead investors.
“By bringing together satellites, secure communications and AI-powered data services, we’re creating a system that transforms information from orbit into something that governments and enterprises can act on,” said Open Cosmos CEO Rafel Jorda Siquier. “This investment allows us to accelerate that vision, satisfying the satellite manufacturing orders that governments and large companies are placing for our reliable and high-performance satellites and delivering the sovereign services the world needs.”
According to the company, its four European manufacturing facilities now have the combined capacity to produce one satellite per day. It also revealed that it has secured more than $370 million in customer contracts over the past three and a half years.
The new funding will support the expansion of its OpenConstellation Earth observation network, ConnectedCosmos communications constellation and DataCosmos satellite intelligence platform. That expansion will be supported by an increase in what Open Cosmos describes as its “mass manufacturing capabilities”. The company did not, however, disclose how much it plans to increase its current production capacity.
The Open Cosmos round comes amid a surge in private investment in European space companies this year. In June, ICEYE raised €450 million in primary funding, while Isar Aerospace secured a €270 million Series D. More recently, that trend appears to have accelerated. In the past two weeks alone, PLD Space has added €108 million to its Series C, HyImpulse has secured more than €50 million in additional funding, The Exploration Company has raised $450 million, and Open Cosmos has now added another €300 million to the total.
Together, the rounds point to a significant increase in private capital flowing into European NewSpace companies as governments across the continent place greater emphasis on sovereign space capabilities.
