🚀 Rocket Lab Tapped for HASTE

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The Space Scoop

Week Ended 04.18.2025

Happy Friday! It was a quiet week on the news front and markets are closed today in the US for Good Friday. We hope you have an enjoyable weekend ahead. Lets dive in.

Market Max-Q

Top Stories

1) Rocket Lab ($RKLB) was selected to provide hypersonic test launch capability with its HASTE launch vehicle this week.

• As one of a handful of companies, the contract awards came from both domestic and abroad including:

  • $46 billion IDIQ with US Air Force Enterprise-Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (EWAAC)

  • £1 billion with UK Ministry of Defence Hypersonic Technologies & Capability Development Framework (HTCDF)

• Across both programs, RKLB intends to bid for contracts and task orders served by its Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) launch vehicle, as well as other engineering, design, and launch services.

• HASTE includes much of the same technology as Electron, but has a modified upper Kick Stage tailored for hypersonic technology tests and a larger payload capacity of up to 700 kg.

• Shares finished the week +0.6% higher.

2) Seraphim Space ($SSIT) released their Q1 2025 investment report. Highlights include:

• According to the latest quarterly report, $2.1 billion was invested in Q1, which is up +16% from Q4. Looking at things on a trailing 12-month basis, space investment hit $8.1 billion, +12% YoY from $7.2 billion. Despite these numbers, space investment is still lower than post-COVID boom days representing only ~75% of the 2021-2022 peak.

• A total of 131 deals closed in Q1 at an average and median size of $24 million and $7.2 million. The largest deal was Stoke Space's $260 million Series C. See our Chart of the Week below for more details.

• As per recent quarters, investment activity remained focused on capital-intensive sectors such as space hardware and infrastructure, launch services, and satellites. Series B and C rounds garnered the highest proportion of capital raised and US companies dominated, attracting ~60% of total capital deployed.

• Seraphim expects "space investment to remain resilient through the remainder of 2025, supported by strong strategic tailwinds. While volatility and geopolitical tensions may continue to create short-term noise, particularly around public market valuations, investor appetite for defence, infrastructure, and manufacturing is at all-time highs, driven by national security priorities." 

In Other News

Satellogic Raises $20M Direct Offering

(Co)

The private placement was conducted with "an institutional investor" and the Company intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes. Rick Dunn, the CFO, added, “the additional $20 million bolsters our liquidity, allowing our team to fully focus on the operational execution of our strategy." Roughly 6.5M shares were sold at $3.10 per share.

Fisica Acquires Space Vector 

(PRN)

Fisica, the manufacturer of airborne and ground-based antennas and electromagnetic systems and simulators, will acquire Space Vector Corporation, a provider of high-reliability RF avionics and battery systems. The acquisition will help Fisica expand its space-based capabilities and customer serving abilities. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Privateer Receives Strategic Investment 

(Co)

The investment in the geospatial intelligence and space sustainability startup was led by Far Eastern Group, one of Taiwan’s largest and influential conglomerates. The investment demonstrates "the premium placed on real-time, actionable intelligence amid complex and interrelated global challenges at a time of intense focus on government efficiency." The amount and valuation were undisclosed.

Chart of the Week

Top Space Investment Deals Q1 2025 

(Source: Seraphim Space)

Links

• Momentus ($MNTS) and Velo3D ($VLDX) Enter Into Five-Year Master Service Agreement• Blue Origin’s New Shepard Completes 31st Mission to Space• Redwire ($RDW) Awarded Docking System Contract From Thales Alenia for ESA’s Habitation Module for the Lunar Gateway• Sidus ($SIDU) Unveils Near Real-Time Vessel Detection and Classification Capability To Be Enabled by LizzieSat Satellite Platform• Lockheed Martin ($LMT) Announces New CFO Effective Immediately

Opinion

• US Space Policy: The Next Frontier• The Case for a US-Led Military Alliance in Space• Q+A with Anduril President and CBO, Matthew Steckman• AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS): Primed for Takeoff With the Upcoming BB2 Launch• Satellogic ($SATL): US Domestication Is Bullish but Capitalizing on Constellation Is Key• Telesat ($TSAT): High CAPEX Will Be a Persistent Headwind

Earnings Calendar

• $LMT: Apr 22 - Before Market Open• $IRDM: Apr 22 - Before Market Open• $BA: Apr 23 - Before Market Open• $GD: Apr 23 - Before Market Open• $HON: Apr 29 - Before Market Open• $MDA: May 8 - Before Market Open• $BKSY: May 8 - Before Market Open• $RKLB: May 8 - After Market Close

*Company confirmed dates only.