diff --git a/client/src/main/java/com/hedera/bucky/S3Client.java b/client/src/main/java/com/hedera/bucky/S3Client.java
index 96e7c40..a37a45e 100644
--- a/client/src/main/java/com/hedera/bucky/S3Client.java
+++ b/client/src/main/java/com/hedera/bucky/S3Client.java
@@ -278,6 +278,20 @@ public String downloadTextFile(@NonNull final String key) throws S3ResponseExcep
         return withRetry(new DownloadTextFileOperation(this, key));
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Opens a streaming download of an object from S3.
+     * The caller is responsible for closing the returned InputStream.
+     *
+     * @param key the key for the object in S3 (e.g., "my_folder/my_file.txt"), cannot be blank
+     * @return an InputStream to read the object content, or null if the object doesn't exist
+     * @throws S3ResponseException if a non-200/404 response is received from S3
+     * @throws IOException if an error occurs while reading the response body on failure
+     */
+    public InputStream openObjectStream(@NonNull final String key) throws S3ResponseException, IOException {
+        Preconditions.requireNotBlank(key);
+        return withRetry(new OpenObjectStreamOperation(this, key));
+    }
+
     /**
      * Uploads a file to S3 using multipart upload.
      *
@@ -1343,6 +1357,46 @@ public Result<byte[]> execute() {
         }
     }
 
+    private static final class OpenObjectStreamOperation implements S3Operation<InputStream> {
+        private final S3Client client;
+        private final String key;
+
+        OpenObjectStreamOperation(final S3Client client, final String key) {
+            this.client = client;
+            this.key = key;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public Result<InputStream> execute() {
+            Result<InputStream> result;
+            try {
+                final String url = client.endpoint + client.bucketName + "/" + urlEncode(key, true);
+                final HttpResponse<InputStream> response =
+                        client.request(url, GET, Collections.emptyMap(), null, BodyHandlers.ofInputStream());
+                final int responseStatusCode = response.statusCode();
+                if (responseStatusCode == 404) {
+                    response.body().close();
+                    result = new Result.Success<>(null);
+                } else if (responseStatusCode != 200) {
+                    try (final InputStream in = response.body()) {
+                        final byte[] responseBody = in.readNBytes(ERROR_BODY_MAX_LENGTH);
+                        final HttpHeaders responseHeaders = response.headers();
+                        final String message = "Failed to open stream for object: key=%s".formatted(key);
+                        result = new Result.ResponseFailure<>(
+                                responseStatusCode, responseBody, responseHeaders, message);
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    result = new Result.Success<>(response.body());
+                }
+            } catch (final UncheckedIOException e) {
+                result = new Result.NetworkFailure<>(e.getCause());
+            } catch (final IOException e) {
+                result = new Result.NetworkFailure<>(e);
+            }
+            return result;
+        }
+    }
+
     // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
     // HTTP layer
     // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/client/src/test/java/com/hedera/bucky/S3ClientTest.java b/client/src/test/java/com/hedera/bucky/S3ClientTest.java
index 45e6d72..fc3f5ff 100644
--- a/client/src/test/java/com/hedera/bucky/S3ClientTest.java
+++ b/client/src/test/java/com/hedera/bucky/S3ClientTest.java
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 import io.minio.MinioClient;
 import io.minio.PutObjectArgs;
 import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Iterator;
@@ -463,6 +464,44 @@ void testFetchNonExistentObject() throws Exception {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * This test aims to verify that the {@link S3Client#openObjectStream(String)}
+     * method returns an InputStream whose content matches the uploaded object.
+     */
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("openObjectStream() returns an InputStream with the correct content")
+    void testOpenObjectStream() throws Exception {
+        // Setup
+        final String key = "openObjectStreamTest.bin";
+        final Random random = new Random(98765432101234L);
+        final byte[] expected = new byte[2 * 1024 * 1024 + 137];
+        random.nextBytes(expected);
+        minioClient.putObject(PutObjectArgs.builder().bucket(BUCKET_NAME).object(key).stream(
+                        new ByteArrayInputStream(expected), expected.length, -1)
+                .build());
+        try (final S3Client s3Client = client()) {
+            // Call
+            try (final InputStream stream = s3Client.openObjectStream(key)) {
+                // Assert
+                assertThat(stream).isNotNull();
+                final byte[] actual = stream.readAllBytes();
+                assertThat(actual).isEqualTo(expected);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * This test aims to verify that the {@link S3Client#openObjectStream(String)}
+     * method returns null when trying to open a stream for a non-existent object.
+     */
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("openObjectStream() returns null for a non-existent key")
+    void testOpenObjectStreamNonExistentObject() throws Exception {
+        try (final S3Client s3Client = client()) {
+            assertNull(s3Client.openObjectStream("non-existent-stream-object.txt"));
+        }
+    }
+
     // -----------------------------------------------------------------------
     // Constructor — precondition validation (no network calls required)
     // -----------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -551,6 +590,19 @@ void testDownloadTextFileRejectsBlankKey() throws S3ClientInitializationExceptio
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Verifies that {@link S3Client#openObjectStream(String)} throws
+     * {@link IllegalArgumentException} for a blank key.
+     */
+    @Test
+    @DisplayName("openObjectStream() throws IllegalArgumentException for a blank key")
+    void testOpenObjectStreamRejectsBlankKey() throws S3ClientInitializationException {
+        try (final S3Client s3Client = client()) {
+            assertThatThrownBy(() -> s3Client.openObjectStream("")).isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class);
+            assertThatThrownBy(() -> s3Client.openObjectStream("   ")).isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class);
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Verifies that {@link S3Client#abortMultipartUpload(String, String)}
      * throws {@link IllegalArgumentException} for a blank key or upload ID.