The European Investment Bank and Deutsche Bank have agreed a €560 million financing partnership to support investment by space businesses across the European Union.
The funding is intended to back companies across the space supply chain, including component manufacturers, launch-technology developers, satellite applications and in-orbit services, the EIB explained in a statement on Friday.
The partnership was agreed ahead of the European Space Agency’s Space Investor Forum in Munich on 29 – 30 October, which brought investors together with space start-ups and scale-ups.
Deutsche Bank said the arrangement would allow it to offer space businesses long-term financing to invest and expand production, quoting Marc Mueller, its global head of trade finance and lending.
EIB vice-president Nicola Beer said the partnership would support companies, supply chains and technologies in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
Satellites, launch technology and Earth observation
The initiative is expected to have a pan-European reach, with around half of the investment anticipated in Germany and the remainder elsewhere in the EU.
The EIB said the financing would support investment in technologies including reusable launchers and spacecraft, advanced propulsion systems, satellite manufacturing and Earth observation, which uses satellites to collect data about the planet.
It stated that these technologies underpin services such as communications and navigation, as well as wildfire detection, pollution monitoring and security.
The operation builds on cooperation between the EIB and the European Space Agency, which the EIB said provides market intelligence and sector expertise to help develop financing solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-sized companies.
ESA director general Josef Aschbacher said the initiative could help European space companies access capital to scale up.
The partnership forms part of Space TechEU, the EIB’s space financing programme that is designed to mobilise an estimated €1.4 billion in investment with commercial banking partners.
