Aiming to launch NewSpace satellites at lower cost, Reflex Aerospace raises €7 million from HTGF and others

Reflex Aerospace, a German satellite tech company with branches in Berlin and Munich, has marked the initial close of its seed round, tying down roughly €7 million from a investors' slate that includes German public-private partnership High-Tech Gründerfonds.

Alpine Space Ventures, an investment fund based in Munich, is also backing the initial seed tranche together with an undisclosed Bavarian family office.

Reflex Aerospace's seed round is expected to reach €12 million on the way to a second close by the end of March 2023, with the additional funds earmarked for the build of a satellite manufacturing facility.

The startup says it has already garnered "several firm commitments as well as further expressions of interest."

With Reflex's UN:IO low-orbit satellite constellation, the startup aims to provide "ubiquitous" high-speed, low-latency net access to mobile platforms and households.

The business model might be seen as Europe's answer to the Starlink satellite broadband offer from Elon Musk's SpaceX constellation.

The UN:IO constellation is being delivered by Reflex Aerospace in partnership with satellite comms giant SES, aerospace firm Isar Aerospace and laser comms specialist Mynaric.

It was awarded a €1.4 million feasibility study contract by the European Commission, one of two study tenders that the commission has handed to 'New Space' EU startups, according to TTech, a solutions provider for the feasibility project.

TTech also says UN:IO could help Europe "establish its independence" from US and Chinese satellite broadband providers.

Aside from SpaceX, the OneWeb satellite broadband provider has been partially owned by the UK's government for the past couple of years, though London recently announced it would use Starlink for a remote satellite broadband trial, rather than backing its own portfolio company.

OneWeb is to be integrated into the global satellite comms player Eutelsat Communications, following a provisional merger agreement announced in July.

Reflex Aerospace was founded last year. Aside from UN:IO, the startup also offers software and services to the New Space ecosystem, which it says allows the business to meet customer needs "faster" and at "lower cost" than hardware-only satellite operators.