Open Cosmos has raised £260 million in funding in a round led by Lightrock as the UK space company looks to expand its satellite manufacturing, connectivity and real-time intelligence capabilities across Europe.

The Oxford-based company designs, builds and operates satellite missions from end to end. Its customers include governments, space agencies and large energy and infrastructure businesses that use its technology for secure communications, Earth observation and operational intelligence.

The new funding brings together a broad group of investors, including ETF Partners, Institut Català de Finances, Entrepreneurs First, Phoenix Court, the National Security Strategic Investment Fund, Convex Group and Claret Capital Partners, alongside two international pension funds.

Rather than focusing on one part of the satellite market, Open Cosmos has built several connected platforms. OpenOrbit handles satellite design and manufacturing, while OpenConstellation allows organisations to share satellite infrastructure instead of building their own systems. ConnectedCosmos provides secure satellite communications, while DataCosmos turns satellite imagery and sensor data into actionable intelligence.

That combination is becoming increasingly relevant as governments and businesses look for faster access to information from space. Open Cosmos gives the example of satellites detecting a potential forest fire, using onboard AI to analyse the situation and sending the intelligence directly to teams on the ground, even in areas without reliable terrestrial internet.

The company says it has achieved five consecutive years of profitable growth, while customer contracts signed over the past three and a half years total more than $370 million. It can currently manufacture one satellite a day across four European factories.

The funding will be used to increase satellite manufacturing capacity, expand its ConnectedCosmos, OpenConstellation and DataCosmos platforms, and grow its engineering, manufacturing and software teams across the UK, Spain, Portugal and Greece. The company currently employs close to 400 people across those operations.

For founders building deep-tech businesses, Open Cosmos is another example of how long-term engineering work can eventually turn into significant commercial infrastructure. Founded by Rafel Jorda Siquier in 2015, the company has grown from a small satellite startup into a multinational space infrastructure business.

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