The space industry is well into its nine-figure funding era.
Intuitive Machines announced on Wednesday a $175M strategic equity investment led by unnamed “global institutional investors.” The money will allow the Moon-bound company, which acquired Lantaris Space Systems last month, to invest in comms and data-processing tech.
Off-World Wide Web: Specifically, Intuitive Machines plans to build a “solar system internet independent of Earth,” according to a press release. That includes growing its Near Space Network Services—a series of comms and navigation infrastructure that will be used by missions operating from Earth, to beyond the Moon. The goal? To offer connectivity all the way to Mars, and to enable energy-heavy data-processing missions.
Trend alert: It’s been a killer start to the year for the space industry, where news about nine-figure funding deals are hitting our inboxes with a surprising regularity. This month alone, CesiumAstro closed a $270M Series C, Stoke Space added $350M to its $510M Series D, and Axiom Space raised $350M. It’s a wild world when Northwood’s $100M Series B at the end of January is seen as a smaller raise.
New starts: Larger rounds are to be expected as the space world moves into later-series fundraising—but investors aren’t forgetting about newer entrants. VC firm Seraphim Space announced today that it had raised a $100M fund to make seed and Series A investments into new space tech companies.
The funding, which was backed by the British Business Bank, the UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund, and industry including Eutelsat and SKY Perfect JSAT, means Seraphim is now overseeing $550M in early-stage space investments.
Advanced Navigation Raises $110M Series C
Not many space companies want to reduce the world’s reliance on satellite infrastructure, but that’s the pitch that landed Australia-based Advanced Navigation a $110M Series C.
Mantis Space Emerges from Stealth with $10M Seed
Mantis Space is aiming to bring power into the light—and now it has the money to do so.
AIRMO Raises €5M For Methane Monitoring Sats
European space startup AIRMO closed a €5M ($5.8M) seed round to launch its first greenhouse-gas-monitoring satellite no earlier than next year, and to expand its drone and airplane monitoring into the Middle East market.
Lux Aeterna Closes $10M Seed to Build Reusable Sats
Everybody loves a reusable rocket—so why has the rest of space hardware remained stubbornly single-use?
Charter Space is done dipping its toes in the insurance market—opting instead to cannonball in.
Charter launched its own insurance brokerage this week—the Charter Interplanetary Risk Corporation (CIRC)—to help space companies secure coverage for their missions and underlying businesses.
The new nationally-licensed brokerage builds on years of developments Charter made in the space insurance realm.
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