🚀 $4B Invested in Space in Q2

Plus AE Industrial raises $1.3B new fund, $SPCE completes new Spaceship manufacturing facility, and more! The latest space investing news and updates.

July 12, 2024

The Space Scoop

Week Ended 07.12.2024

Happy Friday! It was a busy week in the space world - from Ariane 6's long awaited launch to Falcon 9's first mishap in 344 flights to $1.5B investment funding raised for space startups. Lets dive in.

Market Max-Q

Forward

Top Stories

1) Space Capital released their Q2 2024 space investment report. Highlights include:

  • $4.0B was invested across 123 companies this quarter, of which there were more deals completed in Q2 than the past nine quarters combined.

  • Late stage investment accounted for $1.8B, or 46%, while early stage activity was 66% of total investment rounds.

  • The report found that “there are signs that investment in the space economy is improving” after hitting a decade-low in 2023.

  • "Venture capital continues to be the leading source of funding for space companies and at the core of the slowdown is a lack of liquidity producing exits."

  • 2024 is on track for the highest acquisition activity of the past decade with 38 deals YTD, but the consolidation is generally a sign of the tougher times and acquisition values remain subdued.

2) Virgin Galactic ($SPCE) completed the new Spaceship manufacturing facility in Arizona.

  • The Phoenix facility is where final assembly of Virgin's next-gen Delta spaceships (as the company remains grounded) is scheduled to take place come Q1 2025.

  • An initial team of operations and manufacturing personnel have begun preparing the facility to receive and install tooling in Q4 2024 ahead of receiving subassemblies to build the first two ships of the Delta fleet.

  • “The completion of our new manufacturing facility is an important milestone in the development of our fleet of next-generation spaceships, the key to our scale and profitability,” said CEO Michael Colglazier.

  • Shares were down -0.9% this week.

In Other News

AE Industrial Partners Raises $1.28B Fund 

The PE firm closed its third flagship fund, AE Industrial Partners Fund III LP, with deployments into five companies already: York Space Systems, RedLattice, Firefly Aerospace, Yingling Aviation and Calca Solutions. Backers include a mix of institutional investors in the US and around the world. “We believe that space is currently one of the best sectors to invest in due to its huge growth potential,” managing partner Kirk Konert told SpaceNews.

Alpine Space Ventures Raises €170M Fund 

The VC fund closes two years of fundraising to establish their first fund, which will have no more than 10-15 investments with check sizes up to €5M and target European companies. Backers include the European Investment Fund and NATO Innovation Fund to early SpaceX employees.

Helsing Raises €450M Series C Round 

The German-based defense AI startup will use the new capital on developing its AI capability and expanding from its headcount. The round was led by General Catalyst.

Armada Raises $40M Strategic Funding Round 

The modular data center and edge computing startup's round was led by Microsoft's ($MSFT) M12 venture fund. This partnership will deepen the relationship between Armada with Azure and the Azure Marketplace across their product suite.

X-Bow Systems Raises $70M Series B Round 

The solid rocket motors and small launch vehicle startup will use the capital to support increased production of rocket motors and the completion of a factory in Texas. The round was led by VC firm Razor’s Edge, with participation from Lockheed Martin ($LMT) Ventures, Boeing ($BA) Ventures, Crosslink Capital and Balerion Space Ventures.

Chart of the Week

Q2 Orbital Launch Attempts by Country: With rising global launch attempts, the US has pulled away from rivaling countries that remain flat to slightly up. We should all be thankful for SpaceX, as they accounted for 37 of 39 US orbital launch attempts.

(Source: Payload)

Links

• 'Wild Wild Space' HBO Documentary Covering Rocket Lab ($RKLB), Planet ($PL) and Astra ($ASTR) Coming July 17th• Ariane 6 Reaches Orbit with Long-Awaited First Flight• Dawn Aerospace Gets Approvals for Supersonic Rocketplane Tests• AAC Clyde Space ($ACCMF) To Acquire Spacemetric AB• Spire ($SPIR) Awarded $1.4M Contract From Govt of Canada for Ship Tracking Data• Redwire ($RDW) and PhaseFour Developing Advanced Thruster Technology To Support DoD SmallSat Supply Chain• Gravitics Awarded $125M Contract by Axiom Space To Build Commercial Space Station Infrastructure• Max Polyakov Released by U.S. Restrictions Imposed Before Russian-Ukraine War• Rocket Lab ($RKLB) Sets Launch Window for Next Capella Space Mission From Launch Complex 1

Opinion

• Thermonuclear Blasts and New Species: Inside Elon Musk’s Plan To Colonize Mars• Welcome to the Age of Space Skepticism and a Growing Revolt Against Elites• The End of Chevron Deference and What Loper Bright Means for the Space Industry• Space Market Realities, with Pierre Lionnet of Eurospace• Redwire ($RDW): Capitalizing on the Space Economy

Earnings Calendar

• $IRDM: Jul 23 - Before Market Open• $GD: Jul 24 - Before Market Open• $NOC: Jul 25 - Before Market Open• $HON: Jul 25 - Before Market Open• $BA: Jul 31 - Before Market Open• $RKLB: Aug 8 - After Market Close

*Company confirmed dates only.