Space Economy

ICEYE has announced a definitive agreement signed for an oversubscribed $93M growth funding round. The financing will further accelerate investment in the world's largest constellation of SAR satellites and expand the company's portfolio of innovative data and subscription products.

The UK Space Agency (UKSA), in collaboration with the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund (UKI2S), has announced an initiative to support early-stage space startups. With £8 million allocated for investment, this initiative aims to address the critical funding gap that many early-stage space companies face at the pre-seed and seed stages. UKI2S is leading the Space Portfolio, while Future Planet Capital is responsible for managing it.

Aerospacelab has announced the acquisition of AMOS, a company known for its opto-mechanical systems widely used in astronomy, space and other industries. The acquisition marks a significant milestone for the two aerospace companies, jointly entering a new era in advanced space technologies and opening new markets respectively.

Voyager Space (Voyager), has announced the appointment of Neeraj Gupta as the company's Chief Strategy Officer. As CSO, Neeraj will lead the development and execution of comprehensive strategic initiatives to drive innovation, market expansion, and sustainable growth. Neeraj was a key player in establishing the company in 2021 and helped secure the second-largest Series A capital raise in aerospace history: $1.4 billion.

What is one of the main reasons behind orbital cluttering and debris? A conversation of our Dr Emma Gatti with Dr Luca Rossettini, co-founder and CEO of D-Orbit (plus, the many reasons for Luca to go to Space Symposium, including its night parties..;)

After a behemoth month of space-tech investment in February ($1.7b), global venture investment in space-tech fell back to earth in March with only $93.96m invested. Europe held three of the four largest investments this month: Multiverse Computing in Spain (€25m), Mbryonics in Ireland (€17.5m), and Blackwave in Germany ($6.6m), with South Africa’s Simera Sense (€13.5m) rounding out the top-four.

We made it back to the Denver Office of Astroscale US to meet with the team and to record this interview of Dr Emma Gatti with Ron Lopez, President of Astroscale US. Astroscale has exciting updates about its expansion in the United States, with offices in Denver and Washington D.C., and changes in its board structure. They are collaborating with the government on many more contracts and are looking forward to many more commercial space opportunities.

Last week, a major merger took place in the space field. Euroconsult and SpaceTec merged to form one space consulting company: Novaspace (Merger of Euroconsult & SpaceTec Partners). Torsten Kriening spoke with Pacome Revillon and Rainer Horn about the merger and the future of the newly formed company - Novaspace.

Big focus on the defense sector, says Adam Biskner, President of Space Systems at Redwire Space. In lieu of budget cuts and changing market trends, Defence products will be at the forefront of Redwire Space's products. There was a quick highlight about : SabreSat, more information can be found here: 

At the Space Symposium, Dr Emma Gatti met with SpaceWatch.Global friend and collaborator Dr Luigi Scatteia, who spoke to us about PwC 's commercial interest and clients in space and how the Space Symposium is fostering that. With a diverse roster of clients across various sectors - defense companies, space agencies, institutions, governments, private companies, startups, etc., the PwC is aiming to expand and cater to the entire space environment.