Kleos Space Goes Bankrupt

🚀 Kleos Space Goes Bankrupt

July 28, 2023

The Space Scoop

Week Ended 07.28.2023

Happy Friday! Not sure how its almost August but Q2 space earnings season is upon us to help us forget. We have another space company heading to bankruptcy and space venture funding had some glimmers of hope this week. Lets dive in.

Market Max-Q

Top Stories

1) Following Lockheed ($LMT) kicking things off last week, we are now underway with Q2'2023 space earnings season. Highlights include:

  • $IRDM:

    • Revenue: $145.1M, +9% YoY

    • Net Income: $(30.7)M vs. $4.5M YoY

    • Oper. EBITDA: $115.8M, +9% YoY

    • Billable Subscribers: 2.140M, +14% YoY

    • Shares: -15.6%

  • $GD Aerospace:

    • Revenue: $1,953M, +5% YoY

    • Oper Earnings: $236M, -1% YoY

    • Oper Margin: 12.1% vs. 12.7%

    • Total Backlog: $19,497M

    • Shares: +2.1%

  • $BA Defense, Space & Security:

    • Revenue: $6,167M, flat YoY

    • Oper Loss: $(527)M vs. $71M

    • Oper Margin: (8.5)% vs. 1.1%

    • Shares: +8.7%

  • $NOC Space Systems:

    • Sales: $3,488, +17% YoY

    • Oper Income: $283, -9% YoY

    • Oper Margin: 8.1% vs. 10.4%

    • Shares: -2.6%

 2) Kleos Space ($KSS) files for bankruptcy protection.

  • The Luxembourg- based geospatial intelligence startup has run into liquidity issues as the company’s financier decided it will no longer extend additional credit. 

  • Kleos trades on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and notified the exchange of its plans to file for bankruptcy on July 25.

  • After it was unable to secure funding, “the company’s board has had no alternative but to acknowledge that the Company is unable to meet its financial commitments as they fall due, and that there is no prospect of viable alternative financial accommodation,” noted Lous Weis, spokesman of Kleos.

In Other News

Impulse Space Raises $45M Series A Round (Company)

The in-space transportation services startup announced Monday it secured an oversubscribed round of funding, which was led by RTX Ventures, the VC of Raytheon $RTX. Other participant included Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Airbus Ventures and Space Capital.

Prime Movers Lab Raises $245 New Fund (Bloomberg)

The firms fourth fund will back founders and startups working on an "unconventional range of technologies", including brain implants, psychedelics-related therapies and space infrastructure. PM recently backed space infrastructure provider Quantum Space via this new fund.

Chart of the Week

Bankrupt: Kleos Space ($KSS) has filed for bankruptcy in Australia, completing the round-trip after trading -49% YTD and -90% since July 2021.

Links

• Spire ($SPIR) Awarded €16M ESA Contract To Design and Demonstrate Satellite-Based Aviation Surveillance System• Spire ($SPIR) Launches Space-Powered Weather Visualization Platform• Sidus ($SIDU) To Host SOLAR MEMS Star Tracker on June SpaceX Mission• Intuitive Machines ($LUNR) Selected by NASA Team To Develop Survive the Lunar Night Technology• Iridium ($IRDM) Board Approves Additional $400M Share Repurchase Program• Rocket Lab ($RKLB) Prepares for 40th Electron Launch• Momentus ($MNTS) Deploys All Payloads From Vigoride-6 Mission

Opinion

• Space Stock Review: June 2023• The Value of Public Interest in Spaceflight• Iridium ($IRDM) Stock Comes Crashing Down• Iridium ($IRDM): High-Quality and Strategic Asset but Still Too Expensive

Earnings Calendar

• $SPCE: Aug 1 - After Market Close• $SATS: Aug 7 - Before Market Open• $RKLB: Aug 8 - After Market Close• $BKSY: Aug 9 - Before Market Open• $SPIR: Aug 9 - After Market Close• $ASTR: Aug 14 - After Market Close• $LUNR: Aug 14 - After Market Close• $LLAP: Aug 15 - Before Market Open

*Company confirmed dates only.