engineering

Open Cosmos

Open Cosmos is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Open Cosmos rather than just read about it. In short: Open Cosmos is a satellite mission provider and microsatellite manufacturer, focusing on Earth Observation and satellite communication missions. History Open Cosmos was founded by Rafal Jorda Siquier in 2015 with the stated aim of reducing the cost of access to space, and now operates bases in the UK, Spain, Portugal and Greece.

Key takeaways

Open Cosmos belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Open Cosmos to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Open Cosmos from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Open Cosmos is a satellite mission provider and microsatellite manufacturer, focusing on Earth Observation and satellite communication missions.

History Open Cosmos was founded by Rafal Jorda Siquier in 2015 with the stated aim of reducing the cost of access to space, and now operates bases in the UK, Spain, Portugal and Greece. Open Cosmos has joined forces with Space Park Leicester to support in the development of the Elfen Project, which is a mission aimed at measuring solar winds, and its effect on near earth space. In September 2023, it was announced that Open Cosmos had raised $50 million in funding from backers ETF Partners, Trill Impact and A&G, along with smaller strategic investors, including Accenture Ventures. In July 2025, Open Cosmos acquired Portuguese start-up, Connected, which focuses on 5G NB-IoT capabilities for space.

Missions QB50: First Mission. Multi-point in-situ measurements of the lower Atmosphere. Enxaneta: Narrowband IoT mission with Sateliot LS2: IoT satellite for Lucuna Space, providing connectivity to ground sensors. DOVER: Pathfinder for GNSS-based positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) solution. (Lost in UK launched Virgin Orbit mission) Menut: Earth observation satellite focusing on the impact of climate change. ALISIO-1: 6U CubeSat. SWIR imager for environmental monitoring and a laser communications module for improved data transfer. PLATERO: Integrating Earth observation, internet of things and machine learning for enhanced environmental monitoring. MANTIS: Supported by ESA and UKSA, a 12U CubeSat, combining Earth observation and machine learning to address the challenges in the energy and mining sector HAMMER: 6U CubeSat, combining key technologies to deliver near real-time analysis and global coverage. Phi-Sat-2: European Space Agency mission, alongside CGI, Ubotica, Simera CH Innovative, CEiiA, GEO-K and KP Labs. 6U Cubesat designed to show how machine learning can advance Earth observation. 6GStarLab: 6U CubeSat for the evaluation of 6G communication frequencies using multi-frequency devices. NanoMagSat: (Launching 2027) European Space Agency mission consisting of 3 x 16U CubeSats, all carrying miniaturised absolute magnetometers mounted at the end of a boom. UK Atlantic Constellation Pathfinder: (Launch TBC) Ocean, Earth and Climate monitoring satellite, intended as a pathfinder towards the UK contribution to the Atlantic Constellation. ORPHEUS: (Launch TBC) Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) announced that it had awarded the £5.15 million Orpheus mission contract to Astroscale UK, with Open Cosmos as a subcontractor and platform provider. This mission is the successor to the Prometheus-2 and CIRCE missions that were lost aboard the Virgin Orbit launch in 2023. Greek government constellation: (Launch TBC) Earth observation constellation to provide high-resolution imagery to the Greek government.

References

External links Official website LinkedIn Account

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Open Cosmos

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Open Cosmos claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Open Cosmos before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Open Cosmos ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Open Cosmos

In research: Open Cosmos appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Open Cosmos in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Open Cosmos is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Aerospace engineering organizations, Private spaceflight companies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Open Cosmos outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Open Cosmos in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Open Cosmos means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Open Cosmos out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Open Cosmos in simple terms?

Open Cosmos is a satellite mission provider and microsatellite manufacturer, focusing on Earth Observation and satellite communication missions. History Open Cosmos was founded by Rafal Jorda Siquier in 2015 with the stated aim of reducing the cost of access to space, and now operates bases in the…

Why does Open Cosmos matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Open Cosmos?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Open Cosmos.