In the race to make getting to space cheaper, a UK-Spanish startup is betting on an idea older than the Space Age itself: the balloon.
B2Space, based in Wales, uses giant helium balloons to lift rockets into the stratosphere — roughly 20 to 40 kilometers up — before firing them toward space. The approach, sometimes called a "rockoon," skips the fuel-hungry first kilometers of a traditional ground launch, promising cheaper rides for small satellites and easier, more flexible launch windows.
The company says it can dedicate individual launches to small satellites or carry groups of nano and cubesats, and its balloons double as test platforms: payloads can be flown to the stratosphere to experience space-like conditions before a launch commitment is made.
B2Space has been developing the concept since 2022, when it emerged from the European Space Agency's ESA BIC UK business incubation program, and has completed several test flights of its balloon-launch system in Spain's Canary Islands using small solid-fuel rockets. The company has raised about $4.5 million to date.
Reuters featured the startup this week as one of the most novel efforts to cut the cost of reaching orbit — part of a broader wave of companies rethinking high-altitude launch, including air-launch and balloon-based platforms, as demand for small-satellite rides keeps growing.
