French launch startup Venture Orbital Systems (VOS) has closed a €10M ($10.4M) Series A. The round was led by Crédit Mutuel Innovation and Expansion, which were joined by BPI, Comat, Nicomatic, and ADF.
VOS is developing its two-stage Zephyr launch vehicle capable of deploying 100+ kg payloads to LEO. The company is currently targeting 2024 for a maiden flight.
The Series A funding will be utilized to continue the development of the company’s Navier engine. This will include the construction of a test bench, which is currently underway, and a hot fire test at ArianeGroup’s facilities in Vernon towards the end of the year. The funding will also be used to progress the development of Zephyr’s tanks, structure, fairing, and onboard electronics and software.
A new name and a new look
With new money comes a new name—VOS has decided to call itself Latitude. CEO Stanislas Maximin told Payload that the rebranding will ensure the company isn’t constrained by its image to only offering launch services.
“We want to make our company not only a launch provider, but also a space mobility and a general space technology company,” said Maximin.
When selecting the new name, the team had two main criteria:
- A simple one-word name
- A French word that is also pronounceable and understandable in English
And thus, Latitude was selected. The name, according to Maximin, “can also be interpreted as representing all the latitudes that we can reach with our services.”
