After €22.5 million raise, Vienna's ENPULSION to acquire British propulsion firm Lift Me Off

Austrian spacecraft propulsion manufacturer ENPULSION has entered an agreement to acquire 100% of UK-based Lift Me Off (LMO), a company specialising in chemical and cold gas propulsion systems, propellant tanks, and pointing mechanisms that has worked on European Space Agency (ESA) missions. Financial terms were not disclosed, and the deal's completion depends on approval from the UK Government under the National Security and Investment Act 2021.

ENPULSION CEO Dr. Alexander Reissner said the acquisition supports the company's goal of building a complete spacecraft mobility backbone, combining LMO's chemical propulsion and tank technology with ENPULSION's electric propulsion and attitude control capabilities.

About the companies

ENPULSION was founded in 2016, spun out of FOTEC, the research subsidiary of Austria's University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, to commercialise field-emission electric propulsion (FEEP) technology. Based at Vienna Airport, the company reports more than 320 of its propulsion systems currently operating in orbit, including hardware on 15 of 17 SpaceX Transporter missions. In March, ENPULSION secured €22.5 million in growth funding led by Nordwind Growth to expand production capacity and deepen its presence in the US market.

Lift Me Off was founded in 2018 in Reading, UK, and has participated in multiple ESA programmes. Its founders will support the transition to ensure continuity of ongoing programmes and customer relationships.

ENPULSION says the acquisition will enable hybrid propulsion configurations combining electric and chemical technologies, while also giving it a strategic foothold near ESA's facilities in the UK space cluster at Harwell.