Open Cosmos plans 192-satellite constellation after Lightrock-led €300m round

Open Cosmos has put a number on its ambition: the Harwell, UK satellite manufacturer says it will build more than 96 satellites by the end of 2028, the first tranche of a 192-satellite low Earth orbit constellation called ConnectedCosmos aimed at government, institutional and commercial customers that want sovereign European technology delivering broadband and Internet of Things connectivity. The plan surfaced after the company closed a €300 million ($348.6 million) Series C in mid-September at a valuation above $1 billion, led by Lightrock, as Data Center Dynamics first reported.

The constellation would also serve as a transport layer for Open Cosmos's existing Earth observation capacity, broadening the offer beyond a spacecraft order into a connectivity asset with a second path to market. The framing is defensive: the company cites what it describes as compromised and hostile subsea cables and terrestrial infrastructure exposed to ever-increasing interference, jamming and cyber-attack, and it highlights the optical intersatellite links that keep traffic inside its own network rather than on the ground. What it does not detail is the downlink stage, where the coverage notes cyber activity is most likely to occur.

The two satellite counts measure different things, and the distance between them is the schedule: more than 96 spacecraft by the end of 2028 is the near-term build, while 192 is the constellation the company intends to end up with. Rafel Jordà Siquier, the founder and chief executive, called the 192 "the foundation, not the ceiling," and said capacity can be added as demand builds. Open Cosmos claims it can produce one ConnectedCosmos satellite a day from its European manufacturing assets, and says it is exploring a cooperative model that would extend production capacity through a federation of European sources. The announcement does not say what share of the €300 million is earmarked for the constellation.

The round drew ETF Partners, Institut Català de Finances, Entrepreneurs First and two major international pension funds, with Convex Group, the National Security Strategic Investment Fund, Phoenix Court and Claret Capital Partners also participating. Open Cosmos was founded in 2015 through the Entrepreneur First incubator, which joined the round, and now counts almost 400 people across the UK, Spain, Portugal and Greece. The €300 million reportedly made it a new European space unicorn, and Lightrock partner Ash Puri cited the company's mission record, manufacturing capability and scientific expertise in the announcement of the raise.

Launch availability is the gating item: Open Cosmos is in advanced conversations with launch providers about missions between late 2026 and mid-2027, which puts the near-term hardware schedule on rides that have not been announced; the disclosure names no provider, no mission count and no price. Hardware built ahead of a booked ride is inventory, and the schedule the company has published runs into a launch calendar it does not control.

The demand side remains an outline: customer categories are named, but no anchor buyer and no minimum-volume commitment appear in what the company has disclosed. That matters for pricing, because digital infrastructure now trades in two markets: contracted, anchor-backed capacity at infrastructure pricing, and merchant capacity priced on the promise of demand. A constellation whose intended anchor tenants are governments and partner nations sits in the second market. Until contracts attach, the satellite count is a statement of intent; as this publication wrote when Spain tendered 937 MW of grid capacity with no price, no deadline and no revenue guarantee, a headline figure can front a deal whose terms have yet to be written.

Sovereignty is the sales argument, and the National Security Strategic Investment Fund's participation is the closest the announcement comes to an endorsement of it from outside the company. Open Cosmos is selling to buyers it says want European technology they can call their own, including partner nations that Jordà Siquier says can add capacity as they need it, but whether that demand converts into bookings is the open question, and the presence of two international pension funds on the register suggests institutional money is underwriting the thesis ahead of any such contract. What orbit does buy is distance from the constraints that now govern terrestrial digital infrastructure: a satellite network does not wait in a grid interconnection queue, negotiate water rights or sit through a planning hearing. Consent, not capital, decides what gets built on the ground, and a constellation is built under a different test.

The federation model and the launch contracts both have to land before 192 satellites amount to more than a plan. The next checkpoint the company has given is the end of 2028, when more than 96 are meant to be built, and the announcement names no sovereign buyer to take delivery.