A quiet but consequential race is unfolding across Europe. The goal: orbital autonomy. As access to satellite infrastructure becomes a national security issue and economic imperative, a new cohort of aerospace companies is forming across the continent. Their progress is no longer theoretical. It’s commercial, technical, and increasingly well-capitalized.

HyImpulse Technologies, based in Baden-Württemberg, represents a front-runner in this movement. Backed by aerospace veterans, national institutions, and Family Offices with deep industrial roots, the company has created a launch system that sidesteps the liabilities of traditional rocket design. Using a proprietary hybrid propulsion engine, HyImpulse avoids kerosene and the complexities of traditional cryogenic fuel systems. The result is a rocket that is simpler, safer, and dramatically more cost-effective.

This technical decision is not cosmetic. Hybrid propulsion has allowed HyImpulse to compress launch costs to nearly €8,000 per kilogram. That figure undercuts legacy providers by half. The company is preparing to scale production and begin orbital services in early 2027 with LOIs exceeding €360 million and signed contracts of €30 million in the books.

The Stakes for Europe’s Space Infrastructure

The strategic implications are broader than commercial pricing. Europe’s dependence on U.S. and Russian launch infrastructure has long been seen as a vulnerability. As satellite applications expand into defense, logistics, communications, and climate observation, European nations are quietly prioritizing homegrown alternatives.

This backdrop gives HyImpulse an outsized role. The company is one of the few European players with validated technology, secured institutional support, and a path to commercial launch cadence. If it succeeds in reaching orbit by 2027, it will be the first European hybrid propulsion company to do so, marking a potential inflection point in the region’s ability to independently access low Earth orbit.

A Technical Edge over U.S. Peers?

Rocket Lab, listed on Nasdaq, is one of the most widely recognized companies in small satellite launch services. Its Electron rocket uses a kerosene-liquid oxygen engine and is priced at approximately $7.5 million per launch, with a payload capacity of up to 300 kilograms to low Earth orbit. This translates to a cost of $25,000 per kilogram, before accounting for any mission-specific adjustments or margins.

HyImpulse has taken a materially different approach. The company’s propulsion system combines paraffin wax with liquid oxygen in a hybrid configuration, simplifying design and safety requirements. It eliminates the need for cryogenic fuels or pressurized volatile liquids, which often drive up infrastructure and compliance costs. Independent analyses estimate HyImpulse’s per-launch cost to be under €8,000 per kilogram—less than one-third the cost of Rocket Lab’s Electron vehicle.

The company has completed multiple static fire tests of its HyPLOX-75 engine and concluded a successful suborbital launch demonstration. Its propulsion system was reviewed by Professor Vaios Lappas, a former NASA scientist ranked among the top 2% of cited aerospace engineers globally, who verified its performance and safety profile. HyImpulse is preparing for its first orbital mission in 2027, with production capacity scaling the same year.

Strategic Capital Behind the Trajectory

The capital behind HyImpulse reflects this moment. Lead investors include senior figures from the European aerospace and defense ecosystem. The Gutermann Family Office has helped coordinate the raise, alongside support from prominent European investors and institutions, including sources of non-dilutive public funding totaling over €40 million. 

Thomas Gütermann, CEO of the Gütermann Family Office explained, “we see NewSpace as the fifth industrial revolution: Access to space will soon be as essential as access to the internet or energy once was.” Additional European Family Offices have joined the Series A effort.

This level of coordination is rare in European deep tech. It signals more than confidence in a single company. It hints at a broader continental strategy to compete in the global space economy. HyImpulse is currently raising €20 million to complete its Series A2 round and has not yet opened its investor base to U.S. partners. Conversations are underway.

Building a Full-Stack European Launch Platform

A successful launch to orbit would place HyImpulse in a position to lead the European small launcher segment. The company is already preparing for vertical integration. Its HyMove orbital transfer vehicle is designed to offer end-to-end delivery for satellite customers, making it a complete infrastructure provider rather than a single-service vendor.

The momentum behind HyImpulse is a signal. Europe’s space ambitions are accelerating, and German Family Offices are helping to fund the infrastructure behind them. As launch capacity becomes a matter of sovereignty, the capital shaping it is becoming more strategic. This is what the new space race looks like.

For Family Offices focused on sovereign infrastructure, frontier technology, or long-horizon innovation, HyImpulse presents a credible entry point into an emerging asset class. Its capital table, technical performance, and market readiness position it as a flagship investment in Europe’s drive for independent orbital access.

Endnotes

1.  HyImpulse Technologies, Company Presentation: Series A2 Investor Materials
2.  European Commission, Secure Connectivity Initiative: Building EU’s Space-Based Infrastructure, https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/eu-space-policy/secure-connectivity_en
3.  Rocket Lab, Electron, https://www.rocketlabusa.com/launch/electron
4.  Autodesk Redshift, How Sustainable Space Flight Could Be Achieved With Paraffin and 3D Printing, https://www.autodesk.com/design-make/articles/sustainable-space-flight
5.  NewSpace Index, HyImpulse Launcher Profile, https://www.newspace.im/launchers/hyimpulse
6.  European Spaceflight, HyImpulse Qualifies Hybrid Rocket Motor for Flight, https://europeanspaceflight.com/hyimpulse-qualifies-hybrid-rocket-motor-for-flight/
7.  IABG, Supervisory Board Members, https://www.iabg.de/en/about-us/company-management
8. HyImpulse Technologies, Press Release: ESA Boost! €11.8 Million Award, https://spacewatch.global/2024/11/hyimpulse-receive-esa-boost-funding-to-develop-sl1/

9.  European Spaceflight, HyImpulse to Develop HyMove Orbital Transfer Vehicle, https://europeanspaceflight.com/hyimpulse-unveils-hymove-platform