Reflex Aerospace Secures €50 million to Advance Earth Observation Initiatives
On November 4th, Reflex Aerospace, a German manufacturer of high-performance satellite platforms, announced the successful closure of its €50 million Series A funding round, led by US-based venture capital firm Human Element, with participation from Alpine Space Ventures, Bayern Kapital, HTGF, and additional German and European investors. Reflex had previously raised €9 million in seed funding in April 2023.
The recent funding will support the advancement, production, and deployment of sovereign satellite constellations equipped with Optical, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Space Domain Awareness (SDA), and Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) functionalities. A portion of this financing round is allocated to increasing manufacturing capacity in Bavaria, enabling the production of satellite constellations for intelligence and communications applications. Reflex Aerospace plans to ensure all capabilities are prepared for deployment and successfully demonstrated in orbit by 2027, closing critical gaps in Europe’s strategic autonomy.
Established in 2021, Reflex Aerospace is focused on providing a flexible satellite platform suitable for various applications, including Earth observation and communications. The company’s inaugural satellite was constructed for German satellite communications provider MBS and was launched in January 2025. Reflex is currently advancing its next-generation platform, Praetora, specifically designed for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
At present, the company operates a design centre in Berlin and a MicroFactory in Munich, with the capability to produce up to 12 satellites annually. Further plans include establishing a manufacturing facility in Berlin with an annual capacity of up to 50 satellites. The increased production facilitated by the Series A funding will primarily focus on expanding the Munich site.
Reflex Aerospace seeks to address the shortage of sovereign space-based intelligence assets. Walter Ballheimer, CEO of Reflex Aerospace, stated, “Europe cannot afford to remain reliant on external actors for space-based intelligence. We will invest our own capital, collaborate with leading partners in their respective fields, and act decisively given the current environment’s urgency.” Christian Sullivan, Managing Partner at Human Element, noted that Reflex’s approach delivers “the flexibility and speed needed to meet the growing ISR demand across Germany and allied markets.” Both statements underscore Reflex’s strategic intent to develop solutions tailored to the German and broader European defense space sector.
Reflex’s announcement marks the fourth significant funding event for a European satellite manufacturer in recent months. In August, Aerospacelab (Belgium) closed a €94 million Series B, Finland’s ReOrbit secured €45 million in Series A funding in September, and Bulgaria’s EnduroSat announced $104 million in funding shortly before Reflex’s announcement. All four companies intend to use these investments to scale manufacturing capacities in response to increasing demand, predominantly driven by defense initiatives.
Recent comments from NATO, the EU, and the German government reinforce Reflex Aerospace’s strategic purpose. As the EU plans to launch its European Space Shield Initiative in 2026, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Defense announced in September that it will invest about €35 billion (roughly US $41 billion) in space-focused defense projects by 2030. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called satellite networks the “Achilles heel of modern societies.”
Given these changes, Europe needs independent access to space-based intelligence more than ever. Worldwide instability has revealed the risks of relying on external sources for crucial geospatial data. Reflex Aerospace aims to tackle these issues by shortening lead times and strengthening the resilience and independence of Europe’s ISR systems.