🚀 Lynk SPAC Merger Approved

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The Space Scoop

Week Ended 02.09.2023

Happy Friday! The S&P 500 has crossed 5,000 for the first time in history and space stocks had a collective bullish week as well. There is a new space SPAC on the way, Virgin Galactic reported an issue with their latest flight to the FAA and Terran Orbital's CEO reiterated that the Company doesn't need cash after announcing an agreement with a shareholder group that called for his resignation. Lets dive in.

Market Max-Q

Top Stories

1) Lynk Global ($SLAM) announced the finalization of its SPAC business combination agreement.

• The satellite-direct-to-standard-phone telecom provider finalized its definitive business combination with Alex Rodriguez's Slam Corporation on Monday morning at an $800M enterprise valuation.

• Lynk expects to generate $10M in revenue starting in Q2'25 on 38 operating satellites.

• The proceeds of the transaction were not disclosed, but we estimate Lynk will raise ~$110M following shareholder redemptions of 96% (ouch). The Company noted there is another capital raise expected.

• Upon completion expected in the second half of the year, the combined company will operate as Lynk Global Holdings, Inc. and will trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol $LYNK.

 2) AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS) announced a new contract award with US Government through a prime contractor.

• The Company was awarded a "revenue-generating contract to perform certain tasks" on their space-based network in LEO.

• This initial firm-fixed-priced contract (amount undisclosed) will be supported by the BW3 satellite in orbit, along with the next five commercial satellites.

• Shares closed Thursday +22.1% higher and finished the week +20.7% overall. Quite the bounce back and good news that A-mob needed after hitting new 52-week lows the literal day before!

 3) Earnings season continued with only Viasat reporting this week. Highlights include:

• $VSAT

  • Revenue: $1.1B, +73% YoY

  • Net Loss: $(124)M vs. $(74)M

  • Adj. EBITDA: $383M, +214% YoY

  • Backlog: $3.7B, +111% YoY

  • Shares: -18% 

In Other News

Rocket Lab Raises $355M in Convertible Debt 

(Company)

The convertible senior notes will attempt to bridge the Company to its Neutron rocket. The company plans to use $43.2M to pay for the costs of capped call transactions, $40M to repay equipment financing, and the rest will go to corporate purposes with a highlight towards potential acquisitions.

Synthetaic Raises $15M Series B 

(Company)

The AI startup that analyzes data from space and air sensors will use the capital to accelerate customer acquisition and capture new market opportunities. The round was co-led by Lupa Systems and TitletownTech, with participation from IBM Ventures and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Starfish Space Announces Investment

(X)

The space servicing and space tug startup announced the investment on X from IQT, the national security, defense, and space tech investor. The two plan to partner as they "enable a new paradigm for on-orbit operations."

Signal Ocean Makes $10M Investment in Spire

(Company)

Following a strategic partnership to drive digitization of the maritime economy, Signal entered into a securities purchase agreement for 833.3k shares Class A common stock at a $12.00 price via a private placement transaction.

Chart of the Week

2023 Earth Observation Private Investment: Total investment (predominantly venture funding) in EO over the past twelve months was $1.9B, with the Data and Application segments making up nearly 95% of overall funding.

(Source)

Links

• Terran Orbital ($LLAP) Announces Agreement with Shareholder Group• Intuitive Machines ($LUNR) Nova C Lunar Lander Scheduled for Launch on February 14th• Virgin Galactic ($SPCE) Reports ‘Galactic 06’ Flight Issue to FAA• BlackSky ($BKSY) Secures $50M Contract with the Republic of Indonesia and Thales Alenia• NYSE Accepts SatixFy ($SATX) Plan To Regain Listing Compliance Standards• Hawaiian Airlines ($HA) Debuts Starlink for Free Inflight WiFi• Sidus ($SIDU) Appoints New CFO• Voyager Space and Palantir ($PLTR) Sign MOU To Enhance National Security Capabilities in Commercial Space

Opinion

• Venture-Backed Space Companies Face “Year of Reckoning”• How Bankers Read a Potential Sale of Rocket Builder ULA• Rocket Revolution Threatens To Undo Decades of European Unity on Space• Predicting SpaceX’s 2024 Revenue• Space Stock Review - January 2024

Earnings Calendar

• $IRDM: Feb 15 - Before Market Open• $RKLB: Feb 27 - After Market Close• $MDA: Feb 28 - Before Market Open• $BKSY: Feb 28 - Before Market Open• $SPIR: Mar 6 - After Market Close• $LLAP: Mar 26 - Before Market Open

*Company confirmed dates only.