Credit: HyPrSpace
Le Haillan-based rocket builder HyPrSpace has closed an oversubscribed Series A funding round, securing €21 million to continue the development of its hybrid rocket engines and complete a suborbital test flight.
Founded in 2019, HyPrSpace is developing a hybrid propulsion system that uses solid HDPE fuel and a cryogenic liquid oxygen oxidiser. The company expects to use its propulsion system for the first time aboard a suborbital test flight called Baguette One, which is scheduled to be launched in 2026 from a French Ministry of Defence missile test site in mainland France. It will then move on to an initial orbital test flight using its larger Orbital Baguette One (OB-1) rocket.
On 17 November, HyPrSpace announced that it had closed a €21 million Series A funding round led by Red River West and DeepTech 2030, with additional participation from SPI, French Tech Seed, d’Expansion, and NACO. The funding comes after the company secured €35 million from the France 2030 initiative in December 2023.”
According to the company, the new funding will be used to scale up its operations, including completing the full-scale qualification of its propulsion system, conducting the suborbital Baguette One test flight, accelerating the development of its OB-1 rocket, and initiating serial production of its vehicles.
“Our goal is to make hybrid propulsion a global standard,” said HyPrSpace CEO Alexandre Mangeot. “Simple, safe, and high-performance, this technology will reinforce France’s position as a space power while guaranteeing reliable access to space for both civil and defense missions.”
In addition to accelerating work on its space transportation offering, the funding will also be used to expand its efforts to develop defence applications for its hybrid propulsion technology. While the company does not detail its defence systems, in 2020, the DGA awarded the company a €90,000 contract to visually simulate the launch of a surface-to-air missile by generating a smoke trail. The technology was intended to provide the French Air and Space Force with a missile launch detection training system.
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