🚀 SES Acquires Intelsat

View this email in your browser

The Space Scoop

Week Ended 07.18.2025

Happy Friday! We're earlier than usual today due to a prior commitment after market close. Note that this newsletter data is for the week through Thursday evening. Lets dive in.

Market Max-Q

Top Stories

1) SES completes its ~€3.5B acquisition of Intelsat.

• Announced on Thursday following regulatory approval, the long awaited acquisition of its US-based rival will lead to a new multi-orbit space company with a network of 120 GEO-MEO satellites and access to LEO constellations.

• This will form a strong contender in Europe’s increasingly competitive satcom market. The FCC rejected calls by Eutelsat to further investigate the deal, claiming the two combined would dominate C-band services in the US.

• The transaction was estimated to be comprised of €3B in cash and €531M in contingent payments tied to the potential monetization of Intelsat’s C-band spectrum.

• The new organization expects combined revenues to top €3.7B annually and  plans to spend €600-650M annually on CapEx over the next three years 

In Other News

SpaceX to Invest $2 Billion Into xAI 

(RT)

Elon's investing in Elon. SpaceX has agreed to invest in the artificial-intelligence company, sources close to the companies said. Grok is powering Starlink support and eyed for future integration into Tesla's ($TSLA) Optimus robots. Do you like this move?.

Hadrian Raises $260M Series C 

(CNBC)

The defense-focused machine parts startup will use the capital to build a new 270k sqft factory in Arizona, and expand its California location as it looks to develop it shipbuilding and naval defense capabilities. The round led by Founders Fund and Lux Capital, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz and Altimeter Capital.

BlackSky's $160M Upsized Offering 

(CO)

The Convertible Senior Notes due 2033 will be a private offering to persons "reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers." The net proceeds will be used to to repay outstanding borrowings and terminate its secured term loan facility with the remainder for general corporate purposes.

Auriga Space Raises $6M Seed 

(TC)

The California-based startup is developing a launch track that will use electricity to power powerful magnets and accelerate small rockets over 6x the speed of sound. The $6M is made up of a previously undisclosed $4.6M seed and $1.4M in new AFWERX and SpaceWERX contracts. The round was led by OTB Ventures, with participation from Trucks Venture Capital and Seraphim Space ($SSIT).

Apolink Raises $4.3M Seed 

(TC)

The The Palo Alto-based startup raised an oversubscribed round at a $45M valuation to build a real-time connectivity network for satellites in LEO. The startup has already secured more than $140M in LOIs from companies in EO, communication, and spatial data sectors. The round was backed by Y Combinator, 468 Capital, Unshackled Ventures, Rebel Fund, Maiora Ventures and several angel investors.

Chart of the Week

Space Stocks Go Brrrr: It's a good week to be a space stock. Last month $ASTS hit $50 and pulled back since. This week it ripped right back above in what seems like a race with $RKLB, which soared from ~$38 to $51 in a vertical line.The two best in show space SPACs are now above $50. Who else is old enough to remember 2024 when these were $2 and $3? Are you selling here? Trimming? Loading the boat?

Links

• The Largest Mars Rock on Earth Sold at Auction for $5.3 Million• Redwire ($RDW) Edge Autonomy Stalker Uncrewed Aerial System Joins DoD’s Blue List of Approved Drones• Spire ($SPIR) Awarded $1.2M NASA Contract Renewal for EO Data• BlackSky ($BKSY) Wins Multimillion-Dollar Contract with New International Defense Customer for Gen-3 and Gen-2 Assured Services• Planet ($PL) Expands Multi-Year Contract with Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi To Provide Satellite Data Across Colombia• SpaceX Is Considering Getting Into the In-Orbit Space Manufacturing Business• Amazon’s ($AMZN) Ride on the Rocket Merry-Go-Round Continues with SpaceX Launch• Intuitive Machines ($LUNR) Plans To Expand Its Houston Headquarters

Opinion

• War in Space Is Not a Future Problem: It’s Happening Now• AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS) Entering Exponential Growth Phase• The Untold Story of Rocket Lab’s ($RKLB) Moat

Earnings Calendar

• $IRDM: Jul 24 - Before Market Open• $LMT: Jul 24 - Before Market Open• $HON: Jul 24 - Before Market Open• $GD: Jul 23 - Before Market Open• $BA: Jul 29 - Before Market Open• $MDA: Aug 7 - Before Market Open• $RKLB: Aug 7 - After Market Close

*Company confirmed dates only.