🚀 RKLB's $500M Prime Contract

🚀 RKLB's $500M Prime Contract

The Space Scoop

Week Ended 01.12.2023

Happy Friday! We're off and running in 2024 as the capital raises have come pouring in. Rocket Lab announced who awarded them their first prime contract. Momentus is low on cash and Sidus shares are no longer at threat of being delisted from the Nasdaq. Lets dive in!

Market Max-Q

Top Stories

1) Rocket Lab ($RKLB) announced the debut of its $515M prime contractor customer. 

  • Following the 12/21 SEC filing (that was ignored by Rocket Lab's press release team), investors were finally given the insight they were seeking for two weeks: who the government customer was. On Monday, we got their answer: the Space Development Agency (SDA).

  • As a reminder, Rocket Lab will act as a prime contractor leading the design, development, production, testing and operations of 18 Tranche 2 Transport Layer (T2TL) Beta Data Transport satellites.

  • The contract comprises $489M base, plus $26M of incentives and options.

2) Mynaric ($MYNA) reported 2023 key performance indicators (KPIs). Highlights include:

  • Optical Terminal Backlog: 794

  • Cash-in from Contracts: €49.2M

  • Revenue: €4.4M

  • Operating Loss: €73.8M

In Other News

ABL Space Secures $40.6M Funding 

(SEC)

As seen via December 29 SEC filing, ABL is seeking to raise up to $100M in a mix of equity and options/warrants. This is the Company's first capital raise since October 2021 when $200M was raised at a $2.4B valuation

D-Orbit Raises €100M Series C

The in-space logistics services provider fundraising comes on the back of a prosperous 2023, which saw triple digit yearly revenue growth since 2021. The round was led by Marubeni Corporation and Avantgarde family office.

Sateliot Raises €6M Funding 

The Spanish 5G IoT LEO nanosatellite provider raised the capital from Banco Santander ($SAN). The capital is expected to accelerate the development of the Company's technology and deploy its satellite constellation.

Oxford Space Systems Raises £3M Seed

On the back of tripling revenues, successful space antenna deployments, and employee headcount increase of +74%, the UK-based startup raised the growth equity round from the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund.

PierSight Raises $6M Seed

The EO surveillance startup provides ocean surveillance through a constellation of SAR Imaging and AIS satellites. The capital will be used for procurement and testing of critical hardware, design and launch of demo satellites. The round was led by Alpha Wave Global and Elevation Capital.

Chart of the Week

Annual Constellation First Launches: 35+ satellite constellations launched their first prototypes or batches last year. While scale has been slow for most constellations, the 2024 and beyond queue is growing fast.

(Source)

Links

• Spire ($SPIR) Awarded $9.4M Contract by NOAA for Satellite Weather Data• Rocket Lab ($RKLB) To Launch Space Situational Awareness Mission for Spire ($SPIR) and NorthStar• Sidus ($SIDU) Regains Compliance With Minimum Nasdaq >$1 Share Price• Voyager Space and Airbus ($EADSY) Finalize Starlab Space Joint Venture• Iridium ($IRDM) Unveils ‘Project Stardust’ To Develop a Global, Standards-Based IoT and Direct-to-Device Service• SpaceX and T-Mobile ($TMUS) Send First Texts via Starlink Satellites• Intuitive Machines ($LUNR) Enters Into Warrant Exercise Agreement for $11.8M Gross Proceeds• BlackSky ($BKSY) Wins $1M+ Multi-Year Contract With Indonesian Ministry of Defense• Momentus ($MNTS) Is Running Dangerously Low on Money

Opinion

• It’s a SpaceX World (Everyone Else Is Playing Catch-Up)• Starting Unicorns: Is Peter Beck ($RKLB) Smarter Than Elon Musk?• Seraphim Space ($SSIT) Predicts ‘Pivotal’ 2024 for Unloved Space Sector

Earnings Calendar

• $GD: Jan 24 - Before Market Open• $NOC: Jan 25 - Before Market Open• $BA: Jan 31 - Before Market Open• $HON: Feb 1 - Before Market Open

*Company confirmed dates only.