HyPrSpace Secures €21M to Power Hybrid Rocket OB-1, Targeting Responsive Launches by 2027

HyPrSpace raises €21M to develop hybrid-powered OB-1 rocket, aiming responsive small-satellite launches and SpaceX rideshare alternatives by 2027 in Europe

HyPrSpace declared last month that it has completed a Series a fundraising round for 21 million euros ($24.7 million). Venture capital firm Red River West and the DeepTech 2030 fund, which is run by the French government's public-sector investment bank Bpifrance, led the round, which the company claimed was oversubscribed.

Orbital Baguette 1, or OB-1, is a tiny launch vehicle being developed by HyPrSpace that can carry up to 235 kg into orbit. Also, the company is developing Baguette One, a suborbital spacecraft that will serve as an OB-1 technology demonstrator.

According to a recent interview with co-founder Sylvain Bataillard, the Series A funding will enable HyPrSpace to finish developing Baguette One for a launch in the first half of 2026. The launch will happen from a military installation in France.

A number of companies around the world are working on hybrid propulsion, which combines a liquid oxidizer with a solid fuel. HyPrSpace is one of them. Theoretically, hybrid engines combine the best features of liquid and solid propellant rockets; however, aside from their application in Virgin Galactic's suborbital spacecraft, they have not achieved any marketable traction.

The French space agency CNES is the client of HyPrSpace, which plans to launch OB-1 for the first time in late 2027. The outcome of the Baguette One suborbital launch and the company's capacity to raise a Series B fundraising round scheduled for mid-2027 will determine that timeline, Bataillard said.

HyPrSpace is also looking for government launch options with the European Space Agency and the European Commission, but Bataillard characterized those endeavors as "longer and more complicated" than private ventures. The French Space Command is interested in HyPrSpace's "reactive," or responsive, launch capabilities.