🚀 Live from Satellite 2022

🚀 Live from Satellite 2022

March 25, 2022

The Space Scoop

Week Ending 03.25.2022

Happy Friday! It's been a busy week loaded with news from the Satellite 2022 Conference. Let's get right to it.

Market Max-Q 📈

Indexes:S&P 500: 4,543.05 +1.8%NASDAQ: 14,169.31 +2.0%ETFs:UFO: 25.88 +0.5%ROKT: 41.78 +2.9%ARKX: 18.23 +1.9%SSIT: 105.00 +0.8%Weekly Movers:TWNT: 10.96 +30.5%MNTS: 3.02 +16.2%ASTR: 4.13 -10.0%RKLB: 7.96 -12.3%

Top Stories 🚀 

2022 Startup Space Pitch Competition 

Established six years ago, Satellite Conference’s Startup Space pitch contest is designed to stimulate investment and growth in the industry by giving new entrants a platform at one of the largest global space trade shows. The competition has successfully helped jumpstart emerging space companies such as Astroscale, LeoLabs, Ursa, Orbit Fab and dozens of others who have previously competed. This year’s participants included: Scout Space, AV SpaceTech, Aquarian Space, Ubotica, Tensor Tech, OrbitsEdge, ReOrbit, Vyoma Space, GeoJump and Rogue Space Systems.Our 2022 winner is... (drumroll please) Vyoma Space! The German-based startup's intention is to totally automate space object tracking and satellite operations to transform the industry. Their business has created a software package that processes photos, assesses space traffic and plans avoidance movements using clever algorithms and optical sensors. They claim to have the capability of tracking objects with their sensors down to 1cm in size. The company plans to launch their initial two satellites within the next 12 months and hopes to triple fleet size by 2025. As the winner, they will have access to private pitch sessions with the country’s most active space investors in the coming weeks. Congrats Vyoma! 🎉

Firefly Raises $75M Series B Round

On February 24th, it was announced that AE Industrial Partners, the private equity firm behind Redwire ($RDW) and Sierra Space, reached an agreement to acquire a "significant stake" in Firefly Aerospace from Noosphere Venture Partners.This week, the full details were released. AE Industrial Partners led the Series B and concurrently completed its stake acquisition, valuing the company above $1B. "These investments allow Firefly to build on the momentum from last year's financing, and better position us for future growth," said CEO Tom Markusic.Some are speculating Firefly could make a SPAC debut based on their FCC filing wording, which states: the acquisition involved “the majority of Firefly Aerospace’s equity” and was by “special purpose acquisition vehicles controlled by AE Industrial Partners.”

Shareholders Approve Terran Orbital Merger

On Tuesday, Tailwind Two Acquisition Corp. ($TWNT) announced the approved business combination with Terran Orbital. Over 94% of shares (of ~72% of total outstanding) voted in favor of merging with the small satellite manufacturer at the extraordinary meeting.The transaction is expected to close today, March 25th, with shares expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol $LLAP. “We look forward to continuing to industrialize the small satellite industry as a public company, better serving our marquee government and private partners,” said Marc Bell, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Terran Orbital.

In Other News 🛰️ 

Aquarian Space Raises $650K Seed Round 

The lunar communications startup raised capital from Draper Associates to deploy a high-speed communications network for the moon. Valuation was undisclosed.

Ursa Space Raises $16M Series C Round 

The satellite intelligence infrastructure company announced first close led by Dorilton Ventures. Existing investors Razor's Edge Ventures, RRE Ventures, Paladin Capital Group and others also participated.

Kayrros Raises of €40M Funding 

(CityAM)

The French government led the investment in the climate and energy data analytics startup. Other participants include the European Investment Bank, New Space Capital, Opera Tech Ventures and Cathay Innovation. The company has raised €72M since 2016.

Gama Space Raises $2M Seed Round 

The French startup's goal is to develop a low cost solar sail propulsion system for spacecrafts. The round was led by Bpifrance, CNES and various angels.

Neuraspace Raises €2.5M of Funding 

The round was led by Armilar Venture Partners at an undisclosed valuation. The startup plans to accelerate the commercialization of its AI-powered space debris monitoring & satellite collision platform.

Quick Links 🔗

• Astra ($ASTR) CEO Seeing Big Increase in Demand for Launches• OneWeb Resumes Agreement With SpaceX To Resume Satellite Launches• Satellogic ($SATL) and HFX Collaborate To Equip Ukraine With Satellite Tasking Capabilities• SES Acquires DRS Global Enterprise Subsidiary For $450M• Rocket Lab ($RKLB) To Launch Three Demonstration Satellites for E-Space• Former Momentus ($MNTS) Executive To Lead Nuclear-Powered Rocket Engines Startup• Lockheed Martin ($LMT) To Launch Mid-Size Market Satellite Bus• Starlink Reaches 250,000 Subscribers As It Targets Aviation and Other Markets• Spaceflight Announced Extended Multi-Launch Agreement With Astrocast ($ASTRO)• Swarm Launched Satellites on Latest Astra ($ASTR) Mission• Boeing ($BA) Eyes Startup Investment Candidates at Satellite 2022 Conference• Spire ($SPIR) Announces Partnership Expansion With Slingshot Aerospace• Rocket Lab ($RKLB) Weighs Speeding Development To Fill Gap Left by Soyuz• Q&A With Iridium ($IRDM) CEO• Rocket Lab ($RKLB) Provides Update on Q1’2022 Revenue Guidance• Momentus' ($MNTS) Vigoride Vehicle Completes Thermal Vacuum Testing• AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS) Announces MoU With Orange To Extend Coverage To Africa

Opinion 🗣️

• Why Relativity Space Rejected 100 SPAC Offers• U.S. Space Companies Poised To Benefit As Russia Cuts Ties to Industry• 3 Stocks To Watch From the Satellite and Communication Industry

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Finance Execs Examine SPAC Trends, Supply Chain Woes and Talent Acquisition

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Let’s Explore A Position in $SPCE

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NewSpace Companies Face Pivotal 2022

Calendar 📅

• $MYNA: March 28 - Before Market Open• $VORB: March 29 - After Market Close• $ASTR: March 31 - After Market Close• $ASTS: March 31 - After Market Close• $PL: March 31 - After Market Close

*Company confirmed dates only.

Chart of the Week 📊

Tailwind Two Acquisition Corp. ($TWNT) was the best performer this week, rallying +30.5%. Shareholders approved the proposed merger with Terran Orbital on Tuesday and the stock rallied an additional +23.0% into the weekend.