EOS-X Space raises USD 120m at USD 1.2bn valuation ahead of balloon flights
The near-space balloon operator's 2026 fundraising now totals about USD 260m after a May Series D, with commercial flights still targeted before year-end.
Expansión reported on 5 November 2026, citing company sources, that EOS-X Space raised USD 120 million (almost EUR 110 million) from Global Emerging Markets (GEM) to fund US development, industrial capacity and civil and military technology programmes. GEM values the company at USD 1.2 billion before integrating European and US structures.
Tech Funding News and Dealroom corroborated the round on 5-6 November. It follows a USD 140 million Series D earlier in 2026, bringing 2026 funding to about USD 260 million. Commercial balloon flights are still targeted before the end of 2026.
Late-stage capital before first paying flights
EOS-X Space is a Spanish-origin company in space tourism and dual-use near-space systems. Expansión said the new money will support engineering, testing, infrastructure and specialised hiring as the firm prepares US expansion. GEM is an alternative investment group with offices in New York, the Bahamas and Paris.
Dealroom placed the round in the 96th percentile of late-stage Spanish travel deals in its sample. Tech Funding News noted that the USD 1.2 billion GEM valuation is pre-integration of European and US operations and sits well above a July 2025 self-reported valuation above USD 230 million after acquiring US rival Space Perspective.
Listing ambitions and timeline risk
Company sources told Expansión the firm plans to list in New York between the second and third quarters of next year and in London in the second quarter of 2027, with a USD 4.5 billion valuation cited as a starting point for the IPO narrative. Bank of America Merrill Lynch was named as lead bank for capital-markets work. Those listing plans remain ambitions, not completed offerings.
Commercial launch has already slipped from earlier 2023 and 2025 targets to an end-2026 goal. Tech Funding News stressed that until a paying customer flies, the valuation and IPO math rest on a moving timeline. Capsule capacity is described in secondary coverage as about eight to nine people including a pilot, with ticket prices cited around USD 200,000 per flight in trade press.
European deep-tech context
Large late-stage cheques into European space and dual-use hardware remain scarce relative to US peers. A GEM-led USD 120 million cheque into a Spanish balloon platform that also talks up defence applications fits the broader European pattern of pairing tourism branding with dual-use technology stories. Investors will watch whether 2026 actually delivers a commercial flight.
Related European aerospace and dual-use funding on this site includes Vaeridion's EUR 30m Series A2 with the EU Innovation Fund and Beyond Vision's EUR 28m drone production raise.
Context for European readers
Further verification against primary releases and same-day wire coverage confirms the figures cited above. Europreneurs Media publishes only when a primary source or two independent outlets align on concrete terms.
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Independent outlets in the source list align on the core numbers, dates and remaining conditions, which is the standard this newsroom uses before publishing funding and policy stories.
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