🚀 Virgin Galactic Hits Pause

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The Space Scoop

Week Ended 06.14.2024

Happy Friday! It was a quieter week in space market so lets dive right in.

Market Max-Q

Top Stories

1) Virgin Galactic ($SPCE) completed the 12th and final VSS Unity Flight.

• Virgin will retire / now go dark on flights until 2026 while building and developing the next Delta class spaceships after just seven commercial flights, all within the last year.

• As Eric Berger of ArsTechnica lays out, it took Virgin 20 years to perfect a single spacecraft while mounting up hundred of millions in losses. Will the Company be able to  advance to the next stage and reach profitability in just a few years? How ambitious is this timeline? Time will tell.

• Virgin also announced a 1-for-20 reverse stock split this week. Shares have traded below $1.00 since April 24th. Will Virgin be able to turn things around like Spire has? Or will it face continued struggles post-reverse split like Astra and Momentus?

• Shares closed the week down -19% and are currently -71% YTD.

2) Redwire ($RDW) will provide roll-out solar arrays for Thales Alenia Space’s newest telecom satellite line.

• The ROSA wings will be utilized for Space Inspire GEO satellites, following the cooperation kickoff between the two companies last year, and will measure ~80ft long and provide >25 kW of power capability per spacecraft.

• Redwire also announced the hiring of aerospace executive and corporate attorney Aaron Futch as General Counsel. 

• Investors liked what they heard as shares traded +15% higher by Friday's close.

In Other News

Apex's $95M Series B Round 

(PR Newswire)

The spacecraft manufacturing startup will focus on increasing production to meet customer demand for productized satellite buses. The round was led by XYZ Venture Capital and CRV.

OsmosX Raises €2M+ Funding 

(European Spaceflight)

The French startup will use the capital to continue R&D on its multi-use space tug and demonstration mission by 2025. The round was led by Expansion and Rymdkapital.

Rocket Lab Gets $23.9M CHIPS Act Funding 

(Company)

$RKLB announced the signing of a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms with the Dept of Commerce to receive up to $23.9M under the CHIPS and Science Act to increase production of compound semiconductors for spacecraft and satellites.

Chart of the Week

Electron Nears 50: Rocket Lab ($RKLB) will be the force behind the first and fastest commercially developed rocket to reach 50 launches, beating Falcon 9, upon successfully launch next week. Stay tuned! 

(Source)

Links

• Planet ($PL) Announces Real-Time Insights Technology Using NVIDIA ($NVDA) Jetson Platform• Hughes ($SATS) Europe Expands Into Military, Defence & Government Sectors• Skyband Selects Hughes ($SATS) JUPITER System To Power Digital Transformation for Enterprises & Governments Across Saudi Arabia• Thales, Spire ($SPIR) and ESSP To Develop a Space-Based Air Traffic Surveillance Service

Opinion

• Can Space Startups Really Wait a Year for Satellite Approval?• Why the Space Economy Is Among UBS’ 5 Favorite Long-Term Investment Themes Right Now• What People Don’t Get About Space• Spire ($SPIR): An AI Buy Story, but in Space

Earnings Calendar

• $MYNA: Jun 20 - 12:00pm EST

*Company confirmed dates only.