by Raphael Roettgen
2021 started with a strong headline number of around US$480 million of space financing rounds in January … substantially thanks to an old acquaintance having come back to the market: satellite communications provider OneWeb captured US$400 million.
The month also saw a few other rounds, across space industry subsectors, mostly in the U.S. but with Europe also represented, by Italian ground station operator Leaf Space and German maker of launch lock devices DCubeD.
2021 feels promising for record-breaking space financings, with a few transactions already visible on the horizon. For example, we already know from their 2020 announcements that both in-space transportation company Momentus and space mobile company AST&Science intend to list via merging with SPACs; launch company Firefly mentioned a few days ago that it is seeking US$350 million of financing; and SpaceX is expected to come back to the market soon, at a valuation of at least US$60 billion.
Reminder: if you are following the new space sector and are looking for a concise introduction to its trends, main business activities, and possible outlook (and if you happen to speak German!) you may be interested in my new book I recently published with Spacewatch.Global – you can check it out here.
| Company | US$m | Country | Subsector | Investors |
| OneWeb | 400.0 | UK | Satcomm
|
Hughes Network Systems, SoftBank Capital
|
| Umbra | 32.4 | US | Remote sensing (SAR) | John Burbank (Passport Capital), CrossCut Ventures, Starbridge Ventures, Hemisphere Ventures, PonValley, and others
|
| Ursa Major Technologies | 15.0 | US | Spacecraft components (propulsion)
|
N/A
|
| Orbital Sidekick | 14.5 | US | Remote sensing (hyperspectral)
|
N/A
|
| Leaf Space | 6.1 | Italy | Satcomm (ground stations)
|
Primo, Whysol, RedSeed, others |
| Unfolded | 6.0 | US | Remote sensing – downstream (geospatial data analysis)
|
Fontinalis Partners, S28 Capital |
| Kubos | 2.9 | US | Other (mission control software)
|
N/A |
| Phantom Space | 2.1 | US | Diversified (launch, propulsion, satellites)
|
N/A |
| EXOS Aerospace | 1.7 | US | Launch / propulsion | N/A
|
| Nebula Space Enterprise
|
0.6 | US | N/A (Stealth) | N/A |
| Latitudo40
|
0.1 | Italy | Remote sensing – downstream
|
Techstars Mobility Accelerator |
| DCubeD
|
N/A | Germany | Spacecraft components
|
High-Tech Grunderfonds, Interlink Ventures
|
| Care Weather
|
N/A | U.S. | Remote sensing (weather)
|
Campus Founders Fund |
Raphael Roettgen provides financial advice to and invests proprietary capital in space companies as a managing director and founder of E2MC. He also advises institutional investors and governments on space. Previously, Raphael has held senior roles at global investment banks and hedge funds and was also a fintech entrepreneur in Brazil. He holds degrees in finance from Wharton, machine learning from PUC-Rio and space studies from the International Space University, as well as the CFA and FRM charters.
