On August 5, EQT announced that the newly launched Scaleup Europe Fund has completed its first investment by co-leading ICEYE’s Series F. The investment is part of the satellite company’s previously announced financing, which included €450 million in primary capital and exceeded €1 billion together with a secondary transaction. The round valued ICEYE at more than €10 billion.
While the company is headquartered in Finland, it has significant operations in Poland, giving the Scaleup Europe Fund’s first investment a clear CEE footprint.
The deal comes as investment in European spacetech accelerates. According to Dealroom, European space startups raised $2 billion in the first half of 2026, already surpassing the $1.3 billion raised throughout 2025. The firm projects that annual funding could reach $4 billion
Much of this capital still goes to a small number of Western European scaleups and companies such as ICEYE. However, CEE is developing capabilities across a growing part of the space value chain, from satellite production and orbital monitoring to onboard computing and in-space infrastructure.
Satellite manufacturing in CEE
The first company that comes to mind when we are talking about satellite manufacturing is Bulgarian EnduroSat. It raised $104 million in October 2025 to expand its manufacturing capacity and open a new Space Center in Sofia. The facility is designed to produce up to two satellites weighing between 200 and 500 kilograms per day.
In July 2026, EnduroSat announced that it had already deployed more than 100 satellites into orbit. The company’s growth shows that CEE can host industrial-scale satellite production for commercial and government constellations.
Lithuania-based Kongsberg NanoAvionics is following a similar path. The company manufactures small-satellite platforms and provides mission integration services. In 2025, it signed a €122.5 million contract to build an initial 280 satellites for SpinLaunch’s planned broadband constellation, with production expected to take place in Vilnius.
Its work is also increasingly connected to defence and sovereign infrastructure. In May, NanoAvionics launched a Polish synthetic aperture radar demonstrator intended to support future defence applications for NATO and allied countries.
Poland’s Creotech Instruments is also investing in satellite manufacturing. In June, a Warsaw-listed company raised around €113.5 million through a share issue. It plans to use the capital to expand production, develop new satellite programs, and participate in larger European space programmes.
The infrastructure around satellites
The more satellites enter orbit, the more important infrastructure is becoming as an important part of the space economy. Satellite operators need to know where other objects are, whether they pose a collision risk, and how failed spacecraft or debris move through orbit.
One of the companies entering this area is Polish company Sybilla Technologies. It develops robotic optical observatories and software used to identify and monitor objects in orbit. In June, the company secured more than €8 million from local investors.
CEE companies are also working on the computing layer. Poland’s KP Labs develops onboard computers, flight software, and AI systems that allow satellites to analyse data directly in space. Instead of sending every raw image back to Earth, a satellite can process it onboard and transmit only the most useful information.
In July, KP Labs announced a partnership with Parsimoni to combine onboard processing with tools for deploying and updating satellite applications.
Lithuanian startup Astrolight is addressing another critical layer of space infrastructure: connectivity. Founded in 2019, the company develops energy-efficient laser communication systems for secure, high-speed links between low-Earth-orbit satellites and ground stations. Its end-to-end hardware also supports ship-to-ship communications and other defence and commercial applications.
CEE companies are also preparing for the in-orbit economy
A smaller group of regional startups is working on what happens after a satellite reaches space.
Ukrainian-founded Kurs Orbital develops a docking module for satellite inspection, relocation, servicing, and debris removal. The company previously raised $4 million from investors including OTB Ventures, Credo Ventures, In-Q-Tel, and Inovo.
Warsaw-based Orbital Matter is working on 3D printing in space. Its technology could be used to produce antennas, solar arrays, and other large structures directly in orbit instead of folding them into a launch vehicle.
These companies remain much smaller than ICEYE or EnduroSat, but they are targeting partners of the value chain that could grow as satellite operators look for ways to extend mission lifetimes and reduce replacement costs.
Why investors are looking at space now
Europe’s growing focus on defence and technological sovereignty is making spacetech more strategically important — and easier to finance. “If you're doing something interesting today in space and defence, broadly defined, financing is disproportionately easier to find than if you're building yet another marketplace,” said Adam Niewiński in a recent interview with Vestbee.
Governments are also becoming real customers. ICEYE supplies sovereign satellite systems to seven European governments and recently delivered Poland’s MikroSAR reconnaissance system less than 12 months after signing the contract. Creotech Instruments, meanwhile, secured a PLN 556.7 million contract to provide four Earth observation satellites to the Polish Armed Forces.
As more satellites enter orbit, the opportunity is expanding beyond satellite manufacturing and data to technologies such as onboard computing, tracking, docking, servicing and debris removal.
