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Open Cosmos plans a 192-satellite low Earth orbit (LEO) core for its ConnectedCosmos network, but those spacecraft are not all in orbit: the company’s nearer target is to have more than 96 satellites in orbit by the end of 2028, with global coverage targeted for 2030. The plan follows a €300 million funding announcement on September 14, 2026. Open Cosmos called it a funding round, not a Series C, in its announcement.
What Open Cosmos announced
On October 5, 2026, Open Cosmos said 192 satellites would form the foundational core of ConnectedCosmos, its planned LEO connectivity constellation. The company described 192 as a foundation, not a ceiling. Its stated milestones are more than 96 satellites in orbit by the end of 2028 and full global coverage by 2030. These are company targets, not completed deployment or independently verified coverage milestones. Open Cosmos’s announcement also said the next ConnectedCosmos launch would be underway before the end of 2026.
What is ConnectedCosmos?
Open Cosmos presents ConnectedCosmos as a connectivity layer intended to combine point-to-point broadband with direct-to-device Internet of Things (IoT) service. Its design includes optical links between satellites, which the company says could route data through a space-based mesh without relying on ground gateways for every connection. The company also intends the network to link with its Earth-observation (EO) capabilities.
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Open Cosmos says the intended customers include governments, institutions and commercial organizations with critical connectivity needs. It argues that the architecture could offer resilience, security and an alternative when terrestrial infrastructure is vulnerable. Those are company-stated aims; the announcements do not provide independent performance tests demonstrating coverage, security or resilience.
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How connectivity and Earth observation are meant to work together
Open Cosmos describes ConnectedCosmos as a transport layer for EO satellites, while its broader OpenConstellation and DataCosmos services are intended to bring together observations, communications and data processing. The company has offered forest-fire detection and response as an example: satellite observations could identify a developing fire, with connectivity supporting the flow of information to responders. This is an illustrative use case, not evidence that the integrated service is already operating.
What the €300 million funding is for
Open Cosmos announced €300 million in funding on September 14, 2026. It said the money would expand satellite mass-manufacturing capacity and accelerate delivery of intelligence and connectivity services across ConnectedCosmos, OpenConstellation and DataCosmos. The announcement named Lightrock, ETF Partners, Institut Català de Finances (ICF), Entrepreneurs First, two major international pension funds, Convex Group, the National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF), Phoenix Court and Claret Capital Partners. Individual contributions were not disclosed. The company’s funding announcement does not label the round “Series C,” so that classification should not be treated as established by the company’s own wording.
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Open Cosmos also reported more than $370 million in customer contracts signed over the preceding three and a half years and five consecutive years of profitable growth. These are company-reported figures; the announcements do not establish them as independently audited findings.
Launches, manufacturing and the next milestones
Two satellites have already launched
Open Cosmos reported that its first two LEO telecom satellites launched aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from New Zealand in January 2026. The company described them as an initial phase for operational testing, system validation and proof of concept. That launch is an early step, not deployment of the planned 192-satellite core.
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Additional missions and production plans
As of October 5, 2026, Open Cosmos said it was in advanced discussions with several launch providers about additional missions between late 2026 and mid-2027. It did not identify those prospective providers. The company says its European manufacturing capacity can produce one satellite per day; this is a stated capacity figure, not a disclosed count of satellites already built or deployed.
Open Cosmos is also exploring a federation model in which independently owned and governed European satellite systems could interoperate. The company described this as an exploration, not an operating network whose interoperability has already been demonstrated.
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What is known—and what remains a plan
| Item | Status or figure | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| ConnectedCosmos core | 192 satellites | Foundational core announced by Open Cosmos on October 5, 2026; not all in orbit. |
| Near-term deployment target | More than 96 satellites in orbit by end of 2028 | Company target announced October 5, 2026. |
| Coverage target | Full global coverage by 2030 | Company target; no independent coverage forecast is established in the announcements. |
| Funding | €300 million | Announced by Open Cosmos on September 14, 2026, as a funding round; the company did not call it Series C in that announcement. |
| Satellites launched | Two | Open Cosmos said they launched in January 2026 on a Rocket Lab Electron from New Zealand for testing and validation. |
| Manufacturing capacity | One satellite per day | Capacity claimed by Open Cosmos; actual production volume is not stated. |
The announcements establish what Open Cosmos intends to build and the milestones it has set, not whether the schedule, capacity or service performance will be achieved. The main developments to watch are additional launches, progress toward the end-2028 orbital target and evidence that the planned broadband, IoT and EO-linked services work at the promised scale.
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