🚀 Blue Origin Reaches Orbit

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The Space Scoop

Week Ended 01.17.2024

Happy Friday! It was a big week for space (and Series C rounds). Congrats to Blue Origin for their successful first launch and to SpaceX for their second booster chopsticks catch. The Q4 earnings calendar is also taking shape with Primes reporting at the end of the month. Lets dive in.

Market Max-Q

Top Stories

1) Blue Origin's New Glenn reached orbit on inaugural flight.

• On January 16 at 2:03am ET, the heavy-launch vehicle launched to the heavens from from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch had two missions: 1) reach orbit and 2) land and recover the rocket’s first stage booster on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

• The first mission was successful and while the second was not, the Blue Ring payload was put into its intended orbit. Blue will work towards full reusability in its competition with SpaceX and other upcoming launch providers. Congrats to the team and all involved!

• You can rewatch the launch here.

2) Space Capital released their Q4 Space Quarterly Report. Highlights include:

• In Q4, Space Economy investments totaled $9.5B across 99 companies.

• Total investment dollars in 2024 aligned with 2022, marking a rebound from 2023, which was this decade’s second-lowest point since 2015.

• Since 2009, there has now been $338.7B invested into 2,146 unique space companies.

• The report is very bullish on 2025: "Starship will unlock a new paradigm in infrastructure development and advancements in AI and communications will accelerate the integration of space technologies across industries."

In Other News

ARK Invest Starts Position in $LUNR 

(TSI)

Cathie Woods investment company via its Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF ($ARKQ) and Space Exploration & Innovation ETF ($ARKX) began a position in Intuitive Machines this week. $ARKQ acquired 267,642 shares for ~$5.1M while $ARKX purchased 160,178 shares for ~$3.1M.

Stoke Space Raises $260M Series C 

(Company)

 The 100% reusable medium-lift rocket startup will use the capital to complete construction at Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral, finalize development of Nova. The round included new and existing investors Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Glade Brook Capital Partners, Industrious Ventures, Leitmotif, Point72 Ventures, Seven Seven Six, University of Michigan, Woven Capital and Y Combinator.

Loft Orbital Raises $170M Series C 

(Company)

The space infrastructure company has achieved over $500M of bookings and will use the funding to grow their ecosystem of AI application partners and development of infrastructure. The round was led by Tikehau Capital and Axial Partners, with participation from Bpifrance, Foundation Capital, Temasek, and Uncork Capital.

Phase Four Announces First Close of Series C 

(PRNewswire)

The in-space propulsion design and manufacturing startup announced the first close of its undisclosed funding round by securing ~60% of its target capital raise with participation from new and existing investors. The round was led by Artemis Group Capital, the based investment firm founded by former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

Image of the Week

NG-1 Mission: Congrats to Blue Origin on the success of its maiden New Glenn flight. More to come!

Links

• Redwire ($RDW) Successfully Delivers Fourth Pair of Roll-Out Solar Array Wings for ISS Power• BlackSky ($BKSY) Wins Electro-Optical Commercial Layer Extension Contract With NRO• Sidus ($SIDU) Terminates Chief Financial Officer Without Cause• Planet ($PL) Launches High-Resolution Pelican-2 Satellite & 36 SuperDoves• Rocket Lab’s ($RKLB) Second Reentry Class Spacecraft for Varda Operating on Orbit• Momentus ($MNTS) Granted Continued Listing by Nasdaq Through April 15th• BlackSky ($BKSY) Selected by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for $200M Luno B IDIQ• Planet ($PL) Elects General John W. Raymond to Board of Directors• Voyager Space Rebrands to Voyager Technologies, Inc.

Opinion

• The Tyranny of the VC Equation – Why Your Company Might Not Be “VC-Able”• Space Stocks ($ARKX) Took Off, but Are Now in a Holding Pattern• Intuitive Machines ($LUNR) Has a High-Growth Trajectory With NSNS• AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS): There’s a Lot We Don’t Know Yet• Rocket Lab ($RKLB) Deep Dive

Earnings Calendar

• $BA: Jan 28 - Before Market Open• $LMT: Jan 28 - Before Market Open• $GD: Jan 29 - Before Market Open• $NOC: Jan 30 - Before Market Open• $HON: Feb 6 - Before Market Open

*Company confirmed dates only.