Finance

Space solar energy company Solestial closed an oversubscribed $10 million Seed Round of funding led by Airbus Ventures, with participation from AEI HorizonX, GPVC, Stellar Ventures, Industrious Ventures, and others.  The company says that its solar panels can be produced at scale, 90% cheaper than solar panels widely used by the satellite industry. Solestial has...

Bright Ascension, a U.K. space software company, is seeing strong interest in recently launched partner program which will target both software and hardware technology providers to support its on-going product expansion stage. Bright Ascension revealed details about the program, Oct. 10. The program is designed to offer collaboration and create multiple new pathways for commercial...

Smallsat launcher Astra Space could be delisted after Nasdaq sent Astra a deficiency notice that its closing bid price has been below $1 for 30 consecutive business days.  According to SEC filings, Astra has 180 calendar days, or until April 4, 2023, to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement. If Astra’s share price...

Karim Michel Sabbagh, former CEO of SES, joins Greg Wyler’s new venture E-Space as managing director of Europe and the Middle East.  Sabbagh will oversee all European and Middle East business strategy and operations, as well as provide support to the regional corporate development, technical and manufacturing team activities. He will also lead interactions with...

In August this year, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson unveiled ambitious plans to position the Oklahoma-Arkansas region as a national hub for advanced mobility (AM). The collaborative effort aims support the advanced mobility industry including drones, electric and autonomous vehicles, battery manufacturing, and transportation and logistics solutions, will create new research...

The private equity firm AE Industrial Partners (AEI) on Tuesday said it has agreed to acquire a majority share of the spacecraft company York Space Systems, which has a prime contracting role in building satellites for Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Space Transport Layer. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. BlackRock Private Equity Partners is also investing alongside AEI....

Viasat is selling its Link 16 Tactical Data Links (TDL) business to L3Harris Technologies in a nearly $2 billion divestiture that the companies say sharpens Viasat’s core focus and deepens L3Harris’ focus in Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) solutions.   The TDL network, or Link 16 network, is integrated on military aircraft, ground vehicles, surface...

Redwire Corporation announced a deal Monday to acquire QinetiQ Space NV (“Space NV”) for 32 million euros ($31 million). Space NV, based in Belgium, is owned by QinetiQ Group plc and sells Earth observation, platforms, mechanisms, and science instruments in the space sector.  Explaining the acquisition, Redwire said Space NV’s core product offerings include advanced...

  Astroscale has signed a three-year term loan agreement totalling 5 billion Japanese yen ($35 million) with MUFG Bank. (MUFG), leveraging the credit guarantee program offered by Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation, JAPAN (SMRJ). Astroscale is now eligible for funding through SMRJ’s credit guarantee program with a 50% guarantee for principal,...

Astroscale has opened a new satellite manufacturing facility and operations facilities at the Harwell Science & Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom. The new facility, dubbed Zeus, covers approximately 20,000 square feet for a manufacturing facility, satellite operations center, and offices. Astroscale Limited, the U.K. and European subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings, announced the...