Toulouse-based small satellite manufacturer U-Space has secured €24 million in new funding to expand its production capacity and support its growth into international markets.
U-Space was founded in 2018 as a spin-off from research conducted at the French aerospace engineering school ISAE-SUPAERO and secured an initial €7 million funding round in 2022. The company is developing modular nanosatellite platforms with a focus on building small satellite constellations. Its production facilities, which it refers to as “U-Zine,” are designed to enable serial satellite manufacturing using highly automated, digitally integrated processes inspired by the automotive industry.
On 12 November, the company announced that it had closed a €24 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Blast, the French Ministry of Armed Forces’ Definvest fund (managed by Bpifrance), and Expansion. Karot Capital, ARIS, Vertech Finance, and Primo Capital, through its Primo Space fund, also participated.
According to U-Space, the funding will, in part, be used to support “software development” that will enable the ramp-up of its industrial capacity, with the eventual goal of producing one satellite per day. The first milestone in this ramp-up will be achieving the capacity to manufacture one satellite per week by 2027.
The funding will also be used to expand its commercial team, supporting international market expansion with a focus on the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions.
“These regions demonstrate remarkable technological dynamism and a strong will to develop their space economies,” said U-Space President and co-founder Fabien Apper. “They are strategic markets where we can contribute, both on governmental and commercial programs. This is an opportunity to demonstrate our ability to support global space ambitions, and this funding will allow us to do so.”
The U-Space announcement marks the fifth major funding round by a European satellite manufacturer in four months. Belgium’s Aerospacelab closed a €94 million Series B in August, followed by ReOrbit, which secured €45 million in Series A funding in early September. In late October, EnduroSat closed a $104 million round, with Reflex Aerospace’s €50 million Series A announcement coming less than a week later, in early November. All five companies cited growing demand as one of the primary drivers behind their expansion efforts.
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