Short answer, as of 18 October 2026: No European launch company or spaceport has shares you can buy on a stock exchange. Isar Aerospace, Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), PLD Space, HyImpulse, MaiaSpace, Latitude, Skyrora and Orbex are private, and none of them has filed to list. The only listed European rocket maker is Avio, which builds Vega C in Italy and trades in Milan. You can buy listed companies that own part of the private ones: OHB SE holds most of RFA, Airbus and Safran own MaiaSpace and Arianespace through ArianeGroup, and Porsche SE and Molten Ventures hold small parts of Isar Aerospace.
Welcome to our overview of European space stocks, originally published October 18th, 2026. Make sure to check out our mission statement and why we do what we do. Look at our New Space guide if you want explanations of terms and concepts used in our research. And follow us on X for updates.
This is not investment advice. We list facts with their sources so you can check them against the filings yourself. Prices, stakes and plans change, so read the company’s own reports before you buy anything, and ask a licensed adviser if you are unsure.
European launch companies: listed or not, and who owns them
The table shows every European launch company we cover. The third column names the listed companies that own part of it, which is the only way a stock exchange gets you any exposure to these rockets today.
| Company | Listed? | Listed owners you can buy |
|---|---|---|
| Isar Aerospace (Germany) | No. On September 6th, 2026, CEO Daniel Metzler said Isar has no plans for an IPO “in the near future”. | Porsche SE (Xetra: PAH3), 2.9% at the end of 2025. Molten Ventures (London: GROW), EUR 30 million in the June 2026 round. Airbus Ventures Fund III, backed by Airbus, held 7.15% in November 2023. |
| Rocket Factory Augsburg (Germany) | No | OHB SE (Frankfurt: OHB): 56.8% on OHB’s group chart, 65.1% with restricted voting rights in its list of holdings (annual report 2025). |
| PLD Space (Spain) | No | Mitsubishi Electric (Tokyo), EUR 50 million in the Series C of March 2026. The largest holder at the end of 2025 was Innvierte, the fund of the state agency CDTI, with 23.41%. |
| MaiaSpace (France) | No | Airbus (Euronext Paris: AIR) and Safran (Euronext Paris: SAF) through ArianeGroup, their 50/50 joint venture, which owns 100%. |
| Arianespace (France), operator of Ariane 6 | No | Airbus and Safran through ArianeGroup. |
| Avio (Italy), maker of Vega C | Yes, Euronext Milan: AVIO, since 2017 | Avio itself. Leonardo (Euronext Milan: LDO) holds about 18%. |
| HyImpulse (Germany) | No | None. The largest holder is Schwarz Holding GmbH of Ottobrunn, a private company, with about 28.5% after the August 2026 capital increase. |
| Latitude (France) | No | None found. Investors include Bpifrance, the French state bank. |
| Sirius Space Services (France) | No | None found. The owners are not public. |
| Skyrora (UK) | No | None. Maxym Polyakov controls about 90%. |
| Orbex (UK) | No. In administration since February 18th, 2026 | None. The administrators expect nothing for shareholders. |
Isar Aerospace is the name most people search for. Its shares are registered and need the company’s consent to change hands, and the smallest block in the June 2026 round cost between about EUR 270,000 and EUR 330,000 by our estimate. Our Isar Aerospace review explains who bought in, at what price, and what the company is worth by our estimate.
Orbex shows what can happen to private rocket shares. The administrators put its funding since 2015 at GBP 138.5 million, with GBP 76.7 million from public sources, and they expect nothing to reach shareholders.
European spaceports: who owns them
No spaceport operator in Europe is listed. Most are owned by a state or an agency, and three have a listed company among their owners.
| Spaceport | Owners | Listed owner you can buy |
|---|---|---|
| Andøya (Norway) | Norwegian state 90%, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace 10% | Kongsberg Gruppen (Oslo: KOG), itself 50% owned by the Norwegian state |
| Esrange (Sweden) | SSC, 100% Swedish state | None |
| SaxaVord (UK) | Wild Ventures (Anders Holch Povlsen) 55.7% in January 2026, others private. The UK government holds GBP 10 million of convertible loan notes. | None |
| Space Hub Sutherland (UK) | Highlands and Islands Enterprise, a public agency, bought the site back on August 25th, 2026 | None |
| GOSA (Germany, in liquidation) | OHB SE 25.006% and three private firms (shareholder list of May 2024) | OHB SE |
| Kourou (France) | Run by the French space agency CNES, launch pads owned by ESA | None |
| Santa Maria (Portugal) | Two private Portuguese firms | None |
| Etlaq (Oman) | NASCOM 75%, Omantel 25% | Omantel (Muscat: OTEL), majority state-owned |
Listed European companies with space business
These are the European companies you can buy today that build rockets or satellites, run satellites, or own part of a launch firm. For the big groups, space is a minor share of revenue, so check what the space part is worth to them before you count it.
| Company | Listing | What it does in space | State owners |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus | Euronext Paris: AIR | Satellites. 50% of ArianeGroup, which builds Ariane 6 and owns Arianespace and MaiaSpace. | France 10.8%, Germany 10.8%, Spain 4.1% (December 31st, 2025) |
| Safran | Euronext Paris: SAF | 50% of ArianeGroup. | French state 11.72% (December 31st, 2025) |
| OHB SE | Frankfurt (Prime Standard): OHB | Satellites, including Galileo navigation satellites. Most of RFA, half of the planned European Spaceport Company (the other half through an OHB subsidiary), 25% of GOSA. | None. Fuchs family 60.3%, KKR 19.7%, free float 19.6% after the June 2026 share sale |
| Avio | Euronext Milan: AVIO | Vega C, and solid rocket motors for Ariane 6. | Italian state through Leonardo (Leonardo holds about 18%) |
| Thales | Euronext Paris: HO | 67% of Thales Alenia Space, a satellite maker. 33% of Telespazio. | French state 26.06% (December 31st, 2023) |
| Leonardo | Euronext Milan: LDO | 33% of Thales Alenia Space, 67% of Telespazio, about 18.04% of Avio. | Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance 30.204% |
| Eutelsat | Euronext Paris and London: ETL | Satellite operator, owner of the OneWeb low-orbit network. | French state 29.65%, UK government 10.89% (November 2025) |
| SES | Euronext Paris and Luxembourg: SESG | Satellite operator in high and medium orbits. | Luxembourg state and two state banks: 33.33% of the votes (June 30th, 2026) |
| Kongsberg Gruppen | Oslo: KOG | 10% of Andøya Space. | Norwegian state 50.004% |
| Porsche SE | Xetra: PAH3 | Holding company. 2.9% of Isar Aerospace at the end of 2025. | None |
| Molten Ventures | London: GROW | Venture investor. Its older Isar holding was valued at GBP 40 million on March 31st, 2026, before it added EUR 30 million in June. | None |
| Seraphim Space Investment Trust | London: SSIT | Listed fund for private space firms. ICEYE (Finland) was 53.9% of its net assets on June 30th, 2026. It holds no launch company. | None |
| GomSpace | Nasdaq First North Stockholm: GOMX | Small satellites, Denmark. | None |
| AAC Clyde Space | Nasdaq First North Stockholm: AAC | Small satellites and space data, Sweden and UK. | None |
| Ovzon | Nasdaq Stockholm | Satellite communications, Sweden. | None |
| Creotech Instruments | Warsaw Stock Exchange | Satellite platforms, Poland. Building a satellite for ESA under a EUR 13.9 million contract (September 2026). | None |
Airbus, Thales and Leonardo plan to merge their satellite businesses into one company under the name Project Bromo, with Airbus at 35% and the other two at 32.5% each. They signed a memorandum on October 23rd, 2025, and Leonardo expects the approvals in the second half of 2027. OHB and Indra oppose the deal on competition grounds.
OHB is the closest a listed share gets to a German rocket. In June 2026 it sold new shares and KKR sold part of its stake, all at EUR 300 per share. The deal came to EUR 900 million and raised the free float from about 6% to about 20%. RFA has not reached orbit yet, and most of OHB’s revenue comes from satellites.
Who else owns these shares: the taxpayer
Many European space stocks have a state as one of their largest owners. France, Germany and Spain together hold 25.7% of Airbus, Italy’s finance ministry holds 30.2% of Leonardo, and Norway owns half of Kongsberg and 90% of Andøya.
Public money also sits inside the private launch firms, as shares and as launch contracts. The table lists what the states paid or pledged and what had flown by October 18th, 2026.
| Who paid | Company | What | Amount | Delivered by October 18th, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ESA, European Launcher Challenge | Isar Aerospace | Launch contract, signed August 27th, 2026 | EUR 197.8 million | Reached orbit on September 5th, 2026 |
| ESA, European Launcher Challenge | RFA | Launch contract, signed August 27th, 2026 | EUR 186.9 million | No launch |
| ESA, European Launcher Challenge | PLD Space | Launch contract, signed August 27th, 2026 | EUR 158.9 million | No MIURA 5 flight, first launch planned for the first half of 2027 |
| ESA, European Launcher Challenge | MaiaSpace | Pledged in November 2025, no contract signed | EUR 184.3 million | No flight, first launch planned for the second half of 2027 |
| KfW Capital (German state bank) | Isar Aerospace | Shares, June 2026 round | EUR 25 million | Reached orbit on September 5th, 2026 |
| CDTI (Spanish state agency), through Innvierte | PLD Space | Shares | 23.41% at the end of 2025 | Suborbital MIURA 1 flight in October 2023, no orbital flight |
| UK and Scottish public bodies | Orbex | Shares, loans and grants, 2015 to 2026 | GBP 76.7 million | No launch. In administration since February 2026, nothing expected for shareholders |
| UK government | SaxaVord | Convertible loan notes, May 2024 | GBP 10 million | No orbital launch from the site |
| French state (APE) | Eutelsat | Shares, 2025 capital raise | EUR 749 million | 29.65% of Eutelsat, the largest stake |
| UK government | Eutelsat | Shares, 2025 capital raise | EUR 163 million | 10.89% of Eutelsat |
Our page on public money per orbit compares what the states paid with what flew, and our launch date promises page lists every first-flight date the companies gave.
Space ETFs sold in Europe
Several space ETFs (exchange-traded funds, which hold a basket of shares) trade on European exchanges. All of them hold mostly US companies, and none holds a European launch startup, since none of those is listed.
| ETF | ISIN | US share | European names among the largest holdings |
|---|---|---|---|
| iShares Space Technologies UCITS ETF (launched June 2026) | IE000A9G9R73 | 64% | Thales 5.14%, France 12% in total |
| VanEck Space Innovators UCITS ETF | IE000YU9K6K2 | 68% | Melrose (UK) 6.6% |
| WisdomTree Space Economy UCITS ETF (launched May 2026) | IE000VDH1PG3 | 67% | Avio 3.76% |
| ARK Space & Defence Innovation UCITS ETF | IE000AON7ET1 | 87% | France 2.6% in total |
What about SpaceX?
SpaceX listed on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX on June 12th, 2026, at USD 135 per share. Retail investors in Germany, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden could buy in the offer under a prospectus approved by the German regulator BaFin. It is a US company, so it sits outside this page, but it now shows up in three of the four ETFs above.
European space stocks: questions and answers
Can I buy Isar Aerospace shares?
No, Isar Aerospace is not listed on any stock exchange. Its shares need the company’s consent to change hands, and on September 6th, 2026 its CEO said there are no plans for an IPO in the near future. Listed companies with a stake are Porsche SE and Molten Ventures.
Can I buy Rocket Factory Augsburg shares?
No, RFA is a private stock corporation with no listing announced. Its largest owner is OHB SE, listed in Frankfurt, which holds between 56.8% and 65.1% depending on how OHB counts it in its 2025 annual report.
Can I invest in PLD Space?
Not through a stock exchange, because PLD Space is a private Spanish company with no listing. Mitsubishi Electric, listed in Tokyo, invested EUR 50 million in March 2026, and a Spanish state fund was the largest holder at the end of 2025.
Which European rocket companies are listed?
Only Avio, the Italian maker of Vega C, trades on its own (Euronext Milan: AVIO). Airbus and Safran are listed and own ArianeGroup, which builds Ariane 6 and owns MaiaSpace.
Is there a European space ETF?
Several space ETFs trade in Europe, from iShares, VanEck, WisdomTree and ARK. Between 64% and 87% of each fund sits in US companies, and none holds a European launch startup.
Can I buy SpaceX shares in Europe?
Yes. SpaceX has traded on Nasdaq as SPCX since June 12th, 2026, so you can buy it through any broker that offers US shares.
Which listed companies own European spaceports?
Kongsberg owns 10% of Andøya, OHB owns 25% of GOSA, which is in liquidation, and Omantel owns 25% of Etlaq in Oman. Every other spaceport we cover is owned by a state, an agency or private owners.
Is this investment advice?
No, this page lists facts and their sources and makes no recommendation to buy or sell anything.