Europe has the ambition to reach space on its own. What it lacks is rockets that work. Isar Aerospace has just raised €270mn to fix the first problem, and in less than a week it gets another chance to fix the second.
The Munich startup, one of Europe’s best-funded space companies, closed a €270mn Series D with new investors Island Green Capital and Molten Ventures joining existing backers including HV Capital, Lakestar, UVC Partners, and KfW Capital.
The round takes Isar’s total funding to roughly €870mn, a sign of how much investor money is flowing into space. The cash will scale production of its Spectrum rocket and expand its launch operations abroad.
The timing reflects a continent in a hurry. Europe carried out fewer than 10 orbital launches in 2025, against more than 190 in the US, and has leaned heavily on foreign providers, chiefly Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which lists on the stock market this week.
As geopolitical tensions rise, governments increasingly want their own, sovereign access to space, and Isar is pitching itself squarely at European states, NATO members, and allies. Defence-related work now makes up around 60 per cent of its demand, the company says, up from mostly civil business a year ago.The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!