Stories about the new players changing the space game.
Orbit Fab announced yesterday that it closed a $28.5M Series A to accelerate bringing its on-orbit refueling depot tech, i.e., gas stations in space, to market. 8090 Industries led the company’s Series A, with participation from Stride Capital, Industrious Ventures, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Tribe Capital, Good Growth Capital, and Massive Capital Partners. At the same […]
Slingshot Aerospace announced this morning that it will add 80 new sensors by the end of the year, doubling its tracking capabilities and getting closer to its goal of building the most comprehensive space tracking network on the planet. The story so far: CEO Melanie Stricklan founded Slingshot in 2017 to tackle the growing need […]
Launch company Stoke Space is getting into the software business. This week, the Washington-based startup, whose primary mission is building fully reusable rockets, debuted Fusion, a software platform to track physical hardware from “lightbulb to liftoff,” according to its website. Stoke Space developed Fusion to fill an internal need after “a history of pain all […]
Outpost has won a $1.7M DoD contract to help fund development and testing of its Ferry satellite, which can bring payloads safely back to Earth without burning up in the atmosphere. The Direct to Phase II Orbital Prime SBIR contract from SpaceWERX is the startup’s first contract with the Defense Department, Paul Tomko, the director […]
Starfish Space, the Seattle-based startup building vehicles to support a future on-orbit servicing economy, has snagged a $3M contract from National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC), a technology development arm of the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). The funds will help Starfish push its Nautilus electrostatic adhesive docking and capture mechanism through the next phases of development. […]
Starfish Space, a Seattle-based startup developing satellite servicing spacecraft, has raised a $14M Series A round led by Munich Re Ventures. Toyota Ventures also participated in the round, along with existing investors PSL Ventures, NFX, and MaC VC. Servicing for cheap: Starfish has a grand vision of a future economy in Earth orbit where satellites […]
The race to build commercial space stations is heating up. Yesterday, Vast, a startup that emerged from stealth last September with plans to build stations with artificial gravity, announced that it has acquired space tug company Launcher for an undisclosed amount. TechCrunch first reported the news. Vast’s vision: Jed McCaleb, who made his name and […]
Yesterday, Umbra dropped a triple whammy. The Santa Barbara, CA-based startup 1) rebranded, 2) published licensing and pricing details for its SAR imagery, along with sharing some of that imagery for the first time, and 3) announced a key partnership with Maxar. We’ll take this whammy by whammy. #1: The rebrand Umbra’s logo, website, and […]
Jiga, a Y Combinator W21 alum operating a manufacturing procurement platform, closed a $4.1M funding round led by Symbol. “The aerospace industry is facing a growing demand for new and innovative products, and it’s crucial that companies have quick access to the right parts and materials to meet this demand,” Jiga CEO Adar Hay told […]
Exotrail has raised $58M, the French space logistics provider announced this week. The startup will tap the funds to fuel: The cap table Bpifrance, a French public investment bank, led the $58M Series B round via its SPI and Innovation Defense Funds. Bpifrance had already backed Exotrail through its F3A and Digital Venture investment vehicles […]
This week, Orbital Sidekick announced a $10M raise from a group of strategic and existing investors. Energy Innovation Capital led the round, with energy firms Williams and ONEOK participating. The University of Minnesota’s endowment fund, 11.2 Capital, Syndicate 708, and In-Q-Tel also joined the round. Six-year-old, SF-based Orbital Sidekick is preparing to launch a six-bird […]
The Exploration Company has closed a €40.5M Series A. The round follows a €5.3M seed round, closed in November 2021. The Franco-German startup is developing a reusable space capsule, Nyx, that will fly science missions, resupply space stations, and, with any luck, eventually, take crews to and from orbit. The vehicle is designed to carry […]
