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The Space Investor - 🚀 Karman Space Weighing IPO

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The Space Scoop
Week Ended 12.13.2024
Happy Friday! It was a big week on the news front so lets just dive in.

Market Max-Q
Forward Forward

Top Stories
1) Q3 earnings season has officially closed this week following final reporting from SatixFy and Planet. Highlights include: 
  • $SATX 9M'24
    • Cash & Equivalents: $6.5M
    • Revenue: $8.5M, -4%YoY
    • Oper. Loss: $(23)M vs. $(28)M
    • Net Loss: $(35)M vs. $(60)M
    • Shares: +5%
       
  • $PL Q3'25
    • Cash & Equivalents: $242M
    • Revenue: $61M, +11% YoY
    • Net Loss: $(20)M vs. $(38)M
    • Adj. EBITDA: $(0.2)M vs. $(12)M
    • Shares: -4%

2) Trive Capital is exploring a potential sale or IPO of Karman Space & Defense.
  • The Dallas-based private equity firm with AUM of $7B is rumored to be mulling a potential transaction that could value the integrated systems for space, missile, hypersonic and defense programs company at about $3B or more. 
     
  • Karman Space was founded via senior leadership of Aerospace Engineering Corp. and AMRO Fabricating Corp.
     
  • The firm has sounded possible suitors for Karman, which is likely to attract interest from other PE firms. An IPO listing could fetch $400-500M, sources said.
     
  • Representatives for Karman and Trive did not yet respond to requests for comment.

In Other News
Pixxel Raises $24M Series B Extension (Payload)
The space data and hyperspectral earth imaging company will use the capital to build its initial 18-bird constellation, satellites for customers, and get to cash-flow positive by YE 2025. The round was led by M&G Investments and Glade Brook Capital Partners.

Lumen Orbit Raises $11M Seed (TechCrunch)
The Washington-based, YCombinator Summer 2024 space data center startup closed its seed round at a $40M valuation. The round was led by NFX, with participation from Fuse.VC, Soma Capital, and scout funds from Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia. The startup had such high investor demand (more than 200 VCs), it opened up another SAFE round following at a higher valuation to let additional investors in.

Fleet Space Raises AU$150M Series D (PRNewswire)
The Australian satellite startup will use the capital to accelerate the discovery of critical minerals needed for Earth's clean energy future. With a valuation of $525M, the round was led by Teachers' Venture Growth, with participation from existing investors Blackbird Ventures, Hostplus, Horizons Ventures, Artesian Venture Partners, and Alumni Ventures.

Ion-X Raises €13M Series A (SpaceNews)
The French propulsion startup plans to accelerate development and expand production of electrospray thrusters for small satellites and constellations. Expansion and Technofounders, firms led the round alongside new investors European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund and the Île-de-France Region.

Chart of the Week
SpaceX's Soaring Valuation: Since August of 2020, SpaceX has grown its valuation +660% from $46 billion to $350 billion on the back of launch dominance, Starlink and growing Starship successes. At what valuation will SpaceX IPO at? (Source: TSI)

Links
• SpaceX and Investors Agree To Purchase As Much as $1.25B of the Common Shares at $185, Officially Valuing the Company at $350B

• AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS) Announces Definitive Commercial Agreement with Vodafone ($VOD) Through 2034

• SynMax Expands Contract with Satellogic ($SATL) for Oil & Natural Gas Production Monitoring Offering

• Momentus ($MNTS) Files S-1 To Sell 15.41M Shares of Common Stock on a Post-Split Basis

• Rocket Lab ($RKLB) Successfully Launches Suborbital Hypersonic Mission for the DoD

• Redwire ($RDW) Awarded $45M Contract From AFRL To Advance Enhanced Space-Based Capabilities for the Warfighter

• Viasat ($VSAT) Awarded Up to $568M IDIQ From GSA To Support C5ISR Capabilities for US Defense Forces

• Satellogic ($SATL) Announces Closing of $10M Private Placement

• Maxar Intelligence & Satellogic ($SATL) Announce Tasking Partnership To Support National Security Missions

• C3 AI ($AI) & Collins Aerospace ($RTX) Expand Collaboration To Drive AI Transformation

• Virgin Galactic ($SPCE) Partners with Ente Nazionale per l’Aviazione Civile To Conduct Spaceport Feasibility Study

• Momentus ($MNTS) Completes 1-for-14 Reverse Split

Opinion
• Elon Musk’s Billionaire Rocket Rival Peter Beck ($RKLB) Is Hustling To Close Gap

• Tracking Cash Flow Through the 2024 Space Stocks Rally

• Rocket Lab ($RKLB): Is Neutron a Real Threat to Musk’s SpaceX?

• AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS): A Whole Lot Needs To Go Right

• Expect Another Excellent Year From Redwire ($RDW), but Not Like Last Year
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