🚀 EchoStar's Turnaround

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The Space Scoop

Week Ended 09.12.2025

Happy Friday! EchoStar continues to make moves, Planet had a great week, and there were 7 debt and/or equity raises we tracked. Lets dive in.

Housekeeping Note: There won't be a newsletter next Friday. We apologize but will be back in your inbox on the 26th.

Market Max-Q

Top Stories

1) Echostar ($SATS) will sell SpaceX its full portfolio of AWS-4 and H-block spectrum licenses for ~$17B.

• In a hot news drop to start the week, EchoStar announced Monday that it would sell S-band spectrum to SpaceX for $17B in equal cash and stock, along with $2B in debt interest payments through late 2027.

• In a deal that shocked markets, EchoStar planned to use this spectrum for its own direct-to-device satellite constellation, which it awarded MDA Space ($MDA) a contract just about a month ago to build 100 satellites. MDA Space said in a separate statement it received a contract termination notice.

• Customers of EchoStar’s Boost Mobile wireless service will get access to Starlink direct-to-cell capabilities as part of the deal.

• The Company will present on their strategic pivot on Monday September 15th at World Space Business Week in Paris.

• Shares rallied +20% on the news, but finished the week +11% higher.

2) Planet ($PL) reported second quarter FY 2026 earnings. Highlights include:

• Cash & Equivalents: $272M

• Revenue: $73M, +20% YoY

• Net Loss: $(23)M vs. $(39)M

• Adj. EBITDA: $6.4M vs. $(4.4)M

• YTD FCF: $54M

• Backlog: $736M, +245% YoY

• Shares: +48%

• The Company also closed a $460M upsized private offering. The convertible senior notes due 2030 were structured with a 0.50% interest rate, a five-year maturity and an initial conversion price of ~$11.95 per share. The offering initially started out at $300M but quickly increased to $400M before closing at $460M.

In Other News

Apex Raises $200M Series D 

(PRN)

The satellite manufacturer, which is now valued at over $1 billion, will scale production of its satellites and bring component manufacturing in-house. This round follows closely behind a late April 2025 Series C. The round was led by Interlagos, with no disclosure of other participants.

Cailabs Raises €57M in Funding 

(Co)

The French advanced photonics startup announced €37M in financing from the European Investment Bank and €20M in investment from Definvest and Fonds Innovation Defense, NewSpace Capital, the European Innovation Council Fund, Starquest Capital, and CAIVE. The funding will support scaling up production of optical ground stations, with a goal of producing 50 such stations a year by 2027.

ReOrbit Raises €45M Series A 

(Co)

The Finnish startup will use the capital to manufacture sovereign communications and intelligence systems for national security. The round was led by Springvest, with participation from new and existing investors Varma, Elo, Icebreaker.vc, Expansion VC, 10x Founders, and Inventure VC.

Rendezvous Robotics Raises $3M Pre-Seed 

(TC)

Emerging from stealth, the MIT-developed startup plans to commercialize a technology for building large structures in space called TESSERAE that involves in space self-assembling and reconfiguring tiles. The company has already flown two demos of its tech to orbit.

Messium Raises £3.3M Seed 

(PS)

The UK-based hyperspectral startup plans to expand its machine learning and hyperspectral satellite agriculture-focused data offering. The round was led by The UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund and Expansion Aerospace Ventures, with participation from Mudcake, Laconia, GRDC GrainInnovate, Clear Current Capital, Moonstone Venture Capital, and SuperSeed.

Astradyne Raises €2M Seed 

(EUS)

The Italian-based startup will use the capital to accelerate development of its ultralight solar panel designed for space applications. The round was led by Primo Capital, with participation from Galaxia, the National Technology Transfer Hub for Aerospace, Eureka! Fund I–Technology Transfer, and the Puglia co-investment fund.

Space DOTS Raises $1.5M Seed 

(TFN)

The London-based startup aims to bring real-time orbital threat detection and intelligence to satellite operators. The round was led by Female Founders Fund, with participation from Feel Ventures, UK-based angel investors, and General Electric Company, which is also onboarding as a strategic partner.

Chart of the Week

EchoStar's Turnaround: From ~$10 per share in late 2023 to ~$75 as of Friday's close, $SATS has returned +600% outperforming most space stocks and even the beloved $NVDA. We can't say many saw this coming..

Links

• Airbus (

$EADSY

) CEO Still ‘Very Committed’ to Combination of European Space Businesses• Gilat (

$GILT

) Announces Private Placement of $66M to Institutional and Accredited Investors• Sidus (

$SIDU

) Elevates Data Fusion Capabilities with AIS Commissioning• Blue Origin’s Blue Alchemist Successfully Completes CDR• Scott Reese of GE Verona (

$GEV

) Elected to Planet’s (

$PL

) Board• Redwire (

$RDW

) Establishes Rapid Capabilities Facility in New Mexico• Planet (

$PL

) Releases First Light Image From Pelican-3 with Multiple Launches Slated for 2026• Sidus (

$SIDU

) Announces Proposed Best-Efforts Public Offering

Opinion

• The Forms of Space Entrepreneurship• More Than Machines: When AI Explores the Stars Without Us• EchoStar ($SATS) Has Turned Itself Around, but Uncertainty Remains• Redwire ($RDW): Recent Setbacks Are Now Priced In