Investors bought $11.5M worth of SpinLaunch stock, according to a November SEC filing, backing the start-up developing a hypersonic centrifuge to accelerate small spacecraft into orbit.
SpinLaunch CEO David Wrenn told Payload the funding would speed the development of the launch system and satellites that can survive 10,000Gs inside of it.
“We recently moved on to demonstrating integrated satellites,” Wrenn said. “The next phase, obviously, is building out an orbital-capable launch system.”
This year, the company demonstrated a “ruggedized” satellite for the first time in one of its centrifuges in a collaboration with Portland State University, a previously unreported milestone before putting them in orbit. Site selection for an orbital launch system is ongoing, Wrenn said.
Article accelerator: Founded in 2014, SpinLaunch built a 33-meter centrifuge in a vacuum chamber to accelerate payloads to speeds as fast as 5,000 mph. The company used it for suborbital flights beginning in 2021 and in nine subsequent tests.
Its ultimate goal? Using this technique to launch small orbital spacecraft. The company even requested FCC permission to operate a 1,190-satellite broadband internet constellation in 2021; the last action on that docket was in December 2023.
It’s safe to say completing the company’s vision will require more capital. The company can raise as much as $25M in the current offering, which was first reported by TechCrunch.
It’s still the launch business: Kinetic launch has yet to be proven out, and competition in the small launch sector is fierce, with SpaceX’s rideshares putting pressure on prices across the industry. The average mass of a satellite is also rising, which may challenge SpinLaunch’s small spacecraft business model.
There’s been a leadership shake-up since the company’s last round of test launches. In October 2023, Irish entrepreneur Domhanal Slattery became the company’s chairman, and in May, founder and CEO Jonathan Yaney left the company, replaced by former COO Wrenn.
Looking to NatSec? SpinLaunch shared a picture of Space Force Vice Chairman Gen. Michael Guetlein at the company’s California headquarters on Nov. 20. With other small launchers looking to the DoD for a leg up or pivoting to missile defense, SpinLaunch pushes its technology for defense buyers.
