Oxford Space Systems secures £3m to support growth

Published by

Nicky Godding

Oxford Space Systems Limited has completed an equity investment round of c. £3 million to fund growth opportunities that it has identified in the UK and export markets. The funding round was predominantly taken up by existing investors in the company.

Oxford Space Systems, one of a small number of new satellite hardware manufacturers which leverages innovations from beyond the space sector, has seen rapid growth over the past two years, with revenues tripling, five successful antenna deployments in space and employee numbers growing from 50 to 87.

In addition, the company has invested in additional deployable antenna product development and manufacturing capabilities at its Harwell test and assembly facility and at its new Abingdon composite manufacturing site. As part of this expansion the company has identified additional high growth product opportunities, which use existing capabilities, to add to existing growth plans.

The company has decided to pursue these opportunities, and has secured partner and grant funding to co-fund their development together with its latest growth capital equity round.

Sean Sutcliffe, Chief Executive of Oxford Space Systems, said: “We are proud and delighted at the progress Oxford Space Systems has made in recent years, building its product range, customer base and revenues. This growth round will enable us to seize the initiative to develop further high potential products, and to expand our market reach beyond that previously envisaged and into high frequency satellite communication markets, both in space and on the ground. I am pleased that our existing partners and shareholders have shown confidence in backing our growth plans with further investment”.

Oxford Space Systems is a venture capital-backed, growth stage space technology business founded in 2013 with a vision to be the global leader in deployable antennas for Space.

The company moved into its own custom-built facility on the Harwell Campus in 2018 and in 2022 established a metal mesh manufacturing capability alongside its antenna assembly and integration facility that is configured to deliver batches of antennas for customers’ satellite constellation programmes.

In January 2023 Oxford Space Systems opened a new composite manufacturing facility in Abingdon, Oxfordshire to scale up internal capability to manufacture composite materials and components for deployable antennas.

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.