🚀 Relativity Valuation Plummets

Plus Ligado Networks bankruptcy, United Airlines accelerated Starlink timeline, Q1 earnings, and more! The latest space investing news and updates.

January 10, 2025

The Space Scoop

Week Ended 01.10.2025

Happy New Year! Welcome back. It's 2025 and the space industry is ready for a(nother) massive year. We're starting off the year with a New Glenn launch this weekend and Starship Flight 7 soon after. Lets dive in.

Market Max-Q

Forward

Top Stories

1) Ligado Networks files for bankruptcy, sues Viasat ($VSAT) and announces a deal with AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS). 

  • On January 6th, Ligado filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware noting that the Company incurred “large operational losses” from the U.S. government’s “unlawful taking” of its spectrum rights without compensation.

  • The restructuring included a deal with AST SpaceMobile that will allow for 80+ years of access to up to 45 MHz of premium lower mid-band spectrum for 4.7M warrants worth $113M and a $550M long-term deal for L-Band spectrum in the US and Canada as part of a Restructuring Support Agreement (RSA).

  • Ligado has also sued Viasat by seeking more than $1.7B in damages and restitution from Viasat’s Inmarsat, alleging unresolved terminal interference issues. Their shares were down -8.5% this week.

2) Relativity Space's valuation is apparently plummeting. 

  • Per ArsTechnica, the 3D printing-focused launch company is under duress. In November 2023, Relativity last raised a Series F round at $22.67 per preferred share at a $4.5B valuation.

  • Prior to that, the Company raised a $650M Series E round in June 2021. With the Series E raise, Relativity pivot to sole Terran R production and focus which also meant no near-term revenue opportunities.

  • According to Fidelity Investments quarterly reports, Fidelity valued its 1.67M shares at $31.8M in March 2024. In a more recent report dated November 29, 2024, Fidelity's stake was estimated to be worth only ~$0.867M, or $0.52 cents per share while other fundraising rounds shares were also valued at sub-$1.00 per share.

  • Per Bloomberg, Eric Schmidt the former CEO of Google ($GOOGL) is reportedly financing the Company via a significant but undisclosed investment.

  • Once a hot darling ready to take the public markets by storm, it appears the 2022 space SPAC market haunting has come for some private companies.. More to come.

In Other News

Toyota Invests in Interstellar Technologies Series F

The Japanese rocket startup announced that Woven by Toyota ($TM), the company’s mobility technology arm, contributed ¥7B (~$44M USD) through its subsidiary and research unit for the first close of the Series F round. Woven by Toyota plans to help expand rocket and satellite manufacturing capabilities. Toyota expects to provide additional funding by June for the second close of Series F.

ICEYE Closes $65M Extension to Growth Round 

Raising a total of $158M in 2024 and $500M to date, the synthetic aperture radar satellite operator's latest extension round follows the company’s April 2024 $93M growth funding round. The financing was a mix of debt and equity and will further developing its satellite constellation, ISR platform and other systems. The round included participation from funds managed by Solidium Oy, BlackRock, Seraphim ($SSIT), Plio Limited and Christo Georgiev.

Chart of the Week

2024 Annual Performance: With the books closed on 2024, Intuitive Machines ($LUNR) was your best performing space stock at +610% on the backs of its first commercial lunar landing attempt. Not far off was: Redwire ($RDW) +478%, Rocket Lab ($RKLB) +361%, SatixFy ($SATX) +321%, and AST Spacemobile ($ASTS) +250%.Where there were big winners, there were also big losers: Astra ($ASTR-delisted) -76%, Terran Orbital ($LLAP-acquired) -78%, Mynaric ($MYNA) -87% and Virgin Galactic ($SPCE) -88%. Not listed was Virgin Orbit ($VORB) which was also delisted.

Links

• Blue Origin's New Glenn Inaugural Launch Targeting No Earlier Than January 10• United Airlines ($UAL) Announces Accelerated Timeline for Starlink Onboard Its Fleet• Morgan Stanley Offers SpaceX Staff Loans as Valuation Soars• Intuitive Machines ($LUNR) Completes Final Lunar Lander Installation of Nokia’s ($NOK) Lunar Surface Communication System• Peiker & Globalstar ($GSAT) Announce Strategic Partnership to Bring Satellite-based Emergency Services and Telematics Capabilities to Automotive OEMs• Redwire's ($RDW) Camera Tech to Launch Onboard Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Lunar Lander’s First Robotic Moon Mission• Rocket Lab ($RKLB) Selected by Kratos ($KTOS) to Deliver Hypersonic Test Launches for DoD with HASTE Rocket• Rocket Lab ($RKLB) Selected by NASA to Provide Neutron Launch Services Under VADR Launch Contract• BlackSky ($BKSY) Wins US Space Force Rapid Procurement Contracts

Opinion

• Annual Power Ranking: US Launch Companies• Space Stock Review: November & December 2024• Earth Observation in 2024 & Outlook for 2025• Rocket Lab ($RKLB): A Leader in the Modern Space Race• Intuitive Machines ($LUNR) Is Cool And Overvalued• Rocket Lab ($RKLB): Leading The Space Economy Boom

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

*Company confirmed dates only.