France's HyPrSpace targets 100 'Baguette One' rocket engines a year in debut factory

HyPrSpace has opened its first mass production factory in France, it said on Thursday, targeting 100 rocket ​engines a year as the French space startup gears up for ‌a planned test flight next year. HyPrSpace is one of several European space startups seeking to capitalise on growing demand and falling costs of space launches, with governments and commercial ​operators worldwide planning to put thousands of satellites into orbit. The Bordeaux-based ​company says it could cut those costs further with its Orbital ⁠Baguette One hybrid rocket, which has fewer parts than conventional rockets. Hybrid ​engines have usually been less efficient than fully liquid ones, though HyPrSpace said ​in 2024 that one of its tests had reached an average efficiency of 94%. France's defence ministry said in September a sub-orbital vehicle would fly in 2027 from a military ​site in what would be a first from mainland France. Two more ​ground tests are required before a flight test. "Our ambition is to change the paradigm and ‌the ⁠cost of access to space," HyPrSpace CEO Nicolas Billecocq, a former Safran engineer, told Reuters. Read More: Chinese rocket firm, disease research lab to test space pharmaceutical payloads till, the company remains a small player in an increasingly crowded European space launch market. HyPrSpace was not selected in the first round of ​a European Space Agency ​launcher challenge tender, ⁠but Billecocq said the company intended to bid again. The startup's funding is split roughly equally between public and ​private sources, including a €21 million ($24 million) round completed in ​2025. The new ⁠7,000-square-metre factory near Bordeaux can produce about 100 engines a year, enough for 12 of the company's planned orbital launchers. Rather than competing with heavy-lift rockets that ⁠deploy ​dozens or even hundreds of satellites at once, ​such as SpaceX or Europe's Ariane, HyPrSpace is targeting customers that seek dedicated access to space, Billecocq said.