Just halfway through this year, global space ventures drew 10.7 billion euro in investment – the largest sum ever recorded in a six month period.
Globally, the amount raised between 1 January and 30 June 2026 nearly exceeded the 2025 annual investments, even when excluding SpaceX IPO.
For China and Europe alone, the amount raised was more in these six months than in the whole of 2025.
The top three European companies drawing investment were: ICEYE, Isar Aerospace and PLD Space. ICEYE’s round marked the first ever investment by the European Commission’s new Scaleup Europe Fund – a great example of the momentum Europe needs to keep up industrial pace in space.
We can clearly see the space sector is maturing, and there are signs of this beyond the record investment values. We will likely see more market exits concluded and space ventures tapping into more conventional forms of financing than before.
