🚀 Rocket Lab To Acquire GEOST

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The Space Scoop

Week Ended 05.30.2025

Happy Friday! Somehow May has come to an end already, but it wasn't without two big acquisitions and a fiery Starship Flight 9 test. Lets get to it.

Market Max-Q

Top Stories

1) Rocket Lab ($RKLB) to acquire GEOST LLC for $275M.

• Rocket Lab, no stranger to acquisitions, made it latest move announced on Tuesday as it seeks to expand its military contracts and become a well-rounded prime contractor ahead of Golden Dome contracts.

• GEOST is a supplier of electro-optical and infrared sensor payloads used in US military satellites and is currently owned by private equity firm ATL Partners. The acquisition will run Rocket Lab $125M in cash, $150M in stock, and an additional $50M in potential earnouts related to revenue targets in 2026 and 2027.

• Founder and CEO, Sir Peter Beck, said in an interview with SpaceNews: "We want to make sure that we are positioned to be exactly what the U.S. government is asking for, and that is, a new, disruptive prime that can deploy at a cost, in a frequency that hasn’t been achieved yet."

• “This will not be our last acquisition,” Beck also said of the deal.

• Shares closed the week +5.4% higher on the news.

2) Karman Space & Defense ($KRMN) acquires Industrial Solid Propulsion (ISP) for $60M.

• Karman, the recent IPO, announced its purchase of the supplier of energetic propulsion technologies on May 28th to deepen its core expertise in energetic systems.

• The purchase consisted of $50M in cash, $5M in stock and $5M in potential earnout payments. KRMN recently upsized its existing $300M Term Loan B by $75M to fund the cash component of this acquisition.

• “We have been working collaboratively with ISP on a number of exciting opportunities for many months and believe that ISP is a natural, strategic fit.” said Tony Koblinski, Karman CEO.

• Shares closed -1.7% lower the day following the news.

In Other News

EnduroSat Receives €43M in Funding 

(Co)

The Bulgarian satellite company will use the new funds to build out a 17,500 sq-meter facility to produce up to 60 satellites per month by the end of the year. The round was led by Founders Fund, with participation from CEECAT Capital, Morphosis Capital and other existing investors.

Northrop Grumman Invests $50M in Firefly Aerospace

(Co)

As a part of the $175M Series D round, $NOC is investing towards the development of a medium launch vehicle now known as Eclipse. The funding will help grow engineer headcount to meet the targeted 2026 first launch. The rocket will be capable of launching up to 16,300kg of cargo to LEO or 3,200 kg of cargo to GEO. 

Chart of the Week

May 2025 Performance: May is now in the books and our leader of the month is SatixFy ($SATX) at +42% on the back of the upsized acquisition offer from MDA ($MDA) following the go-shop period. On its tails was Intuitive Machines ($LUNR) trading +39% higher. Sidus ($SIDU) traded lower down -11% on no major news.

Links

• Redwire ($RDW) Successfully Delivers Onboard Computer for ESA’s Comet Interceptor Mission To Study Pristine Comet• Momentus ($MNTS) To Host Portal Space Systems Payload Services for First On-Orbit Demonstration of Its Advanced Flight Technology• Iridium ($IRDM) and Syniverse Partner To Bring D2D Satellite Connectivity to Mobile Network Operators Worldwide• Singapore’s DSTA Partners with AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS) To Extend Network Coverage From Space• Planet ($PL) To Appoint Gary Smith to Board of Directors

Opinion

• Where Do Transactions Go Wrong?• Space Sponsorship: The Next Frontier for Revenue Generation• AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS): Turning the Sky Into Your Next Cell Tower• Redwire ($RDW): Edge Autonomy Acquisition Highlights Strategic Shift

Earnings Calendar

• $PL: June 4 - After Market Close

*Company confirmed dates only.