A company has secured £300 million to boost its satellite manufacturing and space intelligence services.
Open Cosmos, based at Harwell Campus and founded in 2015, is now one of Europe’s fastest-growing satellite manufacturers and has recorded five years of profitable growth and a 100 per cent mission success rate.
The company has secured the funding to expand satellite manufacturing and accelerate the delivery of intelligence and connectivity services.
Rafel Jorda Siquier, founder and CEO of Open Cosmos, said: "Space infrastructure is becoming as critical as energy, digital networks and transport.
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"Governments and enterprises increasingly require secure communications and operational data delivered through resilient systems.
"But infrastructure alone isn’t enough.
"The real value comes from the intelligence that relays what’s happening on Earth in real time and the global connectivity to deliver it.
"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.
"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."
The funding round was led by European investors including Lightrock, ETF Partners, and the Institut Català de Finances, and included participation from Entrepreneurs First and two major international pension funds.
Other backers include the Convex Group, National Security Strategic Investment Fund, Phoenix Court, and Claret Capital Partners.
Open Cosmos plans to use the investment to scale up its ConnectedCosmos, OpenConstellation, and DataCosmos platforms, which deliver real-time intelligence and connectivity from space.
The company currently operates four factories across Europe and is capable of manufacturing one satellite per day.
Its next-generation OpenConstellation satellites can deliver earth observation intelligence in as little as 30 minutes, compared to previous turnaround times of up to 48 hours.
The company employs nearly 400 people across the UK, Spain, Portugal, and Greece.
Ashish Puri, partner at Lightrock, said: "Lightrock is delighted to be leading Open Cosmos' funding round and supporting this European leader as it enters its next stage of growth in the space economy.
"The work of Open Cosmos, and the wider space infrastructure sector, underpins global energy, communications, security, and sustainability efforts.
"Open Cosmos' stellar mission record, manufacturing capability, and scientific expertise position it to become a global leader in this critically important sector, and we look forward to supporting the company on this journey."
Patrick Sheehan, managing partner at ETF Partners, said the leadership team had shown 'the calibre of ambition required to convert this expertise into substantial commercial results'.
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