Phantom Space just got a boatload of pre-owned toys to play with.
The AZ-based launch startup announced today that it acquired assets and IP belonging to Vector Launch—another Arizona launch hopeful that filed for bankruptcy in 2019, and attempted, unsuccessfully, to revive its launch dreams under new management in the years since.
Phantom declined to share the value of the acquisition, but CEO Jim Cantrell told Payload that the deal was funded by a previously unannounced Series B, which closed late last year for an amount in the eight-figure range.
The result of the deal is that Cantrell gets a lot of his old stuff back. Cantrell founded Vector in 2016 before leaving and starting Phantom in 2019. He told Payload that ~80% of the assets acquired would help Phantom accelerate the development of its Daytona rocket. Assets changing hands include:
- Launch control center tech and comms equipment;
- Ground support equipment, test stand hardware, and a mobile launcher;
- Engineering data, tooling equipment, a large inventory of parts, and other proprietary technologies.
- The deal also includes the launch vehicle Vector was preparing to fly, as well as multiple engines, which Phantom likely won’t need given differences in rocket body and engine design.
Big year ahead: Phantom’s Daytona vehicle is on track for stage-level testing this year, and Cantrell expects a first flight in the latter half of 2027. The company is also continuing to make progress on its development of critical infrastructure at launch sites on both coasts—LC-13 at Cape Canaveral and SLC-5 at Vandenberg.
Absolutely buzzing: Launch isn’t the only milestone on Phantom’s near-term horizon, however. The company had originally planned a step-by-step approach to its build out, focusing first on the launch vehicle, then on building a constellation of satellites, but now things are moving in tandem.
“When xAI was acquired by SpaceX, that was the equivalent of the beehive being kicked over,” Cantrell said. “We’ve been swarmed by bees, and those bees are data center companies…So we’re actually doing two things in parallel at Phantom. One is the launch vehicle—Daytona—and we’re also doing Phantom Cloud.”
The company expects to complete Block 1 satellites in time for an inaugural launch in mid-2027 on an undisclosed third-party launch vehicle. Phantom has already secured multiple partners for this first flight, including Ubotica and Tropical Weather Analytics. The company is also in talks with other potential partners, including two publicly traded companies, looking for server space on orbit, according to Cantrell.
To hit all these milestones, Cantrell said that Phantom is in the midst of a Series C fundraise, which it hopes can fully fund the first flight of Daytona and help the company pursue more acquisitions to deepen its vertical integration and ramp up its deployment of Phantom Cloud.
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The company today launched NordSpace Ventures, which will make investments in “Canadian space, defense, and dual-use technologies”—starting with Wyvern, an EO company based in Edmonton, AB.
“This was the fastest way to have a direct interest in, and impact on, Canadian companies that are intertwined with NordSpace’s own future,” a spokesperson told Payload in an email. “We have a significant pool of technical and financial talent specific to the space industry that no other VC company we found had, and can make fast-informed decisions as a result.”
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