Reflex Aerospace

Reflex Aerospace, founded in 2021 and headquartered in Berlin, Germany, is a European satellite manufacturer targeting the agile commercial satellite market with a value proposition of rapid custom satellite production — delivering 75 to 500 kg class satellites in 12 months from contract to launch — using ITAR-free European component supply chains, generative design algorithms, and additive manufacturing to compress traditional 3-5 year satellite development timelines.

Reflex's 12-month delivery model requires standardizing satellite bus architecture into modular, pre-qualified building blocks (power systems, ADCS, propulsion, comms) that can be configured for diverse missions without starting from clean-sheet design each time. Generative design software optimizes structural components for minimum mass with maximum stiffness using additive manufacturing constraints — allowing complex lattice structures impractical with CNC machining to achieve mass reduction that matters at 75-500 kg scale.

The ITAR-free component mandate is strategically important: European and non-US customers increasingly require satellites built without US-controlled components to avoid ITAR re-export restrictions that limit satellite operations, data sharing, and resale in certain markets.

Reflex's first satellite, SIGI (SIGnal Intelligence demonstration), launched in 2024 on a SpaceX rideshare mission — validating the company's manufacturing processes, ITAR-free supply chain, and compressed development timeline in orbit. SIGI provides early on-orbit heritage enabling commercial customer confidence in the Reflex bus for subsequent missions.

With €50 million raised in a Series A round and over 70 employees, Reflex is scaling manufacturing capacity to support multiple simultaneous customer satellite programs. The Berlin headquarters situates Reflex within Germany's growing NewSpace ecosystem alongside OHB (traditional prime) and emerging startups.

Reflex competes with Airbus D&S small satellite buses, SSTL (Airbus subsidiary), and AAC Clyde Space in the European small satellite market, differentiating through delivery speed and ITAR-independence.