ESPI publishes its annual report on the private investment in the European and global space sector • Jul 2025
The European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) published its annual Space Venture report, providing a detailed overview of the Global Investment dynamics in 2024.
At the global level, the sector experienced a 6% increase in total investment in 2024 from 2023, reaching €6.9 billion. Venture Capital continues to represent the most significant funding worldwide (72%).
The report outlines that for the first time since 2019, the US attracted less than half of global investment, while China and Europe together accounted for 50%, posting record highs. Private investment captured by European space venture saw a year-on year increase of 56% in 2024, reaching €1.5 billion in total investment. Around 40% of the companies securing deals had a focus on security. The top five European ventures to attract the most investment in 2024 reached €681 million, with French company Preligens leading (14% of the total), followed by German venture The Exploration Company and Finnish ICEYE respectively. This represented a 40% increase in the total top 5 investment from 2023 (€411 million), signalling a rising concentration of investment towards the upper percentile.
In Europe, Venture Capital represented 69% of total investment, with a 27% increase from last year. It has been followed by Acquisitions with a 16% of the total and Debt financing accounting for 8%. Interestingly, debt financing saw a 183% year-on-year increase, hitting a record high of €121.5 million.
Private investment in European space venture appear to benefit from increasing security needs of Europe.This is reflected by over €600 million invested in space ventures active in security and defence markets in 2024 alone, with over half of them located in the UK and France.
The report also provides a special expanded focus on China, noting 2024 as the most successful year for fundraising in the Chinese commercial space sector. The changes in dynamics highlighted in the Report reflect the increasing maturity of the Chinese commercial launch sector. The document also describes the rise of New Space in the African Continent, with 327 active New Space companies and the foreign investments tracked.
The document also presents the recent dynamics of the Japanese commercial space sector and its “remarkable growth in the past decade”, with a focus on the growth and evolution of the Japanese space ecosystem.
To learn more and access the ESPI’s full report, please click here (please log-in to access the document).
To learn more about ESPI's activities and reports, please click here.
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