An encouraging signal for French “new space” start-ups, this ecosystem which has been developing in the space sector for around ten years, driven by a proliferation of private initiatives. In January, three of them, Latitude and its Zéphyr microrocket, Greenerwave with its intelligent antennas, and Aldoria, which deploys telescope stations to monitor space, announced fundraising amounts respectively to 27 and 15 and 10 million euros.
These operations come after a year marked by a drying up of the market, due to the rise in interest rates, with bankers and investors primarily abandoning activities deemed too complicated and too risky, such as those of young space companies. Thus, according to Euroconsult, private investments in the world were almost halved between 2021 and 2023, going from 12.6 billion dollars (11.7 billion euros) to 6.5 billion dollars.
It was a year “complicated” which was reminiscent of 2020, the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, recognizes the founder of Latitude, Stanislas Maximin, also responsible for the NewSpace France Alliance, an association that he founded and bringing together around forty young people businesses. This often forced them to “rethink their strategies so as not to suffer too much”, continues this 25-year-old leader. Activity in the sector was able to be maintained thanks to the support of public authorities in various forms, through the France 2030 and Bpifrance investment plan, or by convincing as many stakeholders as possible to invest when they could and, also, by providing technical support.
Fifty rockets in 2028
“I am the first to criticize the State when it does not do its job, but here, I admit, if it had not played its role, there would have been a lot of damage in start-ups, underlines Stanislas Maximin. I hope that this year 2024 will be that of redemption, where the players will be able to resume their investments. Because the risk is not going fast enough, and competitors will not wait. » But, he warns, “I remain cautious despite everything. We compensated when necessary, but we did not resolve the fundamental problem of space financing. This is a complex area where traditional investment funds do not want to enter.”
The 27 million euros collected by Latitude allow this company, founded in 2019 and which today employs 140 people, to put the elements of its first microrocket into production and then proceed with its assembly. The launch is planned for 2025, with the aim of carrying out around fifty per year from 2028. The target market is that of nanosatellites, the size of a shoebox and which can weigh from a few tens of grams up to at 40 kilograms. Zéphyr, in its first version, will be able to carry up to 100 kilograms of load, a capacity which will double in four years. By 2028, estimates are for more than a thousand nanosatellites per year to be put into orbit around the world. Latitude is aiming for 15% of the market and thus intends to be the European leader in a sector currently dominated by the Americans, with SpaceX’s Falcon launchers and Rocket Lab’s minirockets, but where there are numerous projects. In France alone, six are in development.
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