Open Cosmos
UK-based satellite mission provider
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Open Cosmos is a satellite mission provider and microsatellite manufacturer, focusing on Earth Observation and satellite communication missions.
| |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace engineering |
| Founder | Rafal Jorda Siquier |
| Headquarters | |
Area served | Worldwide |
Number of employees | ~150 (March 2025) |
| Website | www |
History
Open Cosmos was founded by Rafal Jorda Siquier in 2015 with the stated aim of reducing the cost of access to space,[1] and now operates bases in the UK, Spain, Portugal[2] and Greece.
Open Cosmos has joined forces with Space Park Leicester to support in the development of the Elfen Project, which is a mission aimed at measuring solar winds, and its affect on near earth space.[3]
In September 2023, it was announced that Open Cosmos had raised $50 million in funding from backers ETF Partners, Trill Impact and A&G, along with smaller strategic investors, including Accenture Ventures.[4][5][6]
In July 2025, Open Cosmos acquired Portuguese start-up, Connected, which focuses on 5G NB-IoT capabilities for space.[7]
Missions
- QB50: First Mission. Multi-point in-situ measurements of the lower Atmosphere.
- Enxaneta: Narrowband IoT mission with Sateliot
- LS2: IoT satellite for Lucuna Space, providing connectivity to ground sensors.
- DOVER: Pathfinder for GNSS-based positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) solution. (Lost in UK launched Virgin Orbit mission)
- Menut: Earth observation satellite focusing on the impact of climate change.
- ALISIO-1: 6U CubeSat. SWIR imager for environmental monitoring and a laser communications module for improved data transfer.
- PLATERO: Integrating Earth observation, internet of things and machine learning for enhanced environmental monitoring.
- MANTIS: Supported by ESA and UKSA, a 12U CubeSat, combining Earth observation and machine learning to address the challenges in the energy and mining sector
- HAMMER: 6U CubeSat, combining key technologies to deliver near real-time analysis and global coverage.[8]
- Phi-Sat-2: European Space Agency mission, alongside CGI, Ubotica, Simera CH Innovative, CEiiA, GEO-K and KP Labs. 6U Cubesat designed to show how machine learning can advance Earth observation.[9][10][11]
- 6GStarLab: 6U CubeSat for the evaluation of 6G communication frequencies using multi-frequency devices.[12]
- NanoMagSat: (Launching 2027) European Space Agency mission consisting of 3 x 16U CubeSats, all carrying miniaturised absolute magnetometers mounted at the end of a boom.[13][14]
- UK Atlantic Constellation Pathfinder: (Launch TBC) Ocean, Earth and Climate monitoring satellite, intended as a pathfinder towards the UK contribution to the Atlantic Constellation.[15]
- ORPHEUS: (Launch TBC) Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) announced that it had awarded the £5.15 million Orpheus mission contract to Astroscale UK, with Open Cosmos as a subcontractor and platform provider. This mission is the successor to the Prometheus-2 and CIRCE missions that were lost aboard the Virgin Orbit launch in 2023.[16]
- Greek government constellation: (Launch TBC) Earth observation constellation to provide high-resolution imagery to the Greek government.[17]