Moonshot #2

Starship launch delayed due to frozen valve, ispace prepares for lunar landing, and Seraphim releases Q1 2023 report

Spectacular view of Starship ahead of attempted launch. Credit: SpaceX

Hello Continuum readers and Celestial Citizens,

Welcome back to Moonshot where we will give a bi-weekly rundown of all the private sector space news. Also, if you haven’t already, consider becoming a paid subscriber ($6/month) so you can get past that pesky paywall and read the full Moonshot post!

And here is the commercial space company beat…

• While every Muskrat in town heeded the tempting song of the Starbase pied piper and descended on Texas in the last 24 hours, SpaceX fans were disappointed to learn that they must wait a few more days for that historic Starship launch attempt. The rocket’s maiden flight was called off due to a frozen valve causing issues pressurizing the booster's first stage. The delay could take another couple of days to resolve, and instead of launching the rocket, SpaceX engineers conducted a "wet-dress rehearsal" fueling test. The 394-foot-tall and 30-foot-wide Starship is the “largest, most powerful rocket ever built, surpassing NASA's Saturn 5, and the Soviet Union's N1 moon rocket.” Okay everyone, you can head back to Space Symposium now.

• For followers of the slow and steady Hakuto-R, a moon-bound Japanese spacecraft mentioned in our past couple newsletters, we’re getting closer and closer to the announced landing attempt on April 25 at approximately 12:40 p.m. Eastern. Also last week, shares of ispace started trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market. Shares which were “priced at 254 yen ($1.91) per share, skyrocketed in trading April 13, closing at 1,201 yen” and then later closed, “April 14 at 1,501 yen, giving the company a market cap of 120.7 billion yen ($909.8 million).” Here’s hoping ispace’s spacecraft successfully touches down, making it the world’s first private moon lander.

All space subsectors excluding product (boosted by “several major funding rounds for climate-focused platforms”) experienced investment decline. Credit: Seraphim

• Seraphim released their quarterly “Space Index Report,” which revealed some compelling if not entirely surprising results for the first part of 2023. For one, their research showed that for the first time ever private space tech investing in Europe surpassed that in the US. Still it appears that at least for now, the US is the top spot for Series A investment – but Europe is certainly showing that they are looking to catch up in the commercial space sector and become far more independent in their capabilities. The big headline is that $5.9 billion was invested in space tech over the last 12 months, and while that may seem like a lot, “investment declined across nearly all space industry subsectors, except for product” – with the most capital-intensive subsectors (Build, Launch, Downlink, and Beyond Earth) experiencing the most significant drops. With investment being down over the last two quarters, investors appear to be looking more closely at early-stage deals “to avoid high burn rates and capital requirements.” And while it might be easy to get down on the state of the space market, Seraphim points out that investment in space tech still remains above historical norms prior to Q4 2020 after which we entered into a very frothy space market – or as I like to call it, the Zoom Boom^TM.

  

  For the first time ever, Europe surpasses North American in total space tech investment for Q1 2023. Credit: Seraphim

  

  The funding environment for larger, late-stage deals dried up significantly in Q1 2023. Credit: Seraphim

• After an informative and exciting milestone a couple weeks ago, Relativity Space is adjusting their strategy to introduce an aluminum alloy into their renowned 3-D printing approach, specifically on their larger Terran R rocket. This means that the Terran 1 model, of which 85% was 3-D printed, will sit on the sidelines for now. Terran R’s new material makeup (3-D vs. more “traditional” aluminum) has yet to be revealed, but CEO Tim Ellis assures the company’s long-term focus is still on “additive development.” 

• Also participating in the 3-D printed space tech games is India’s Skyroot, who completed a successful test of a 3-D printed cryogenic engine in early April. The company plans to use this advanced engine in their Vikram II, set to launch next year. 

Skyroot’s 3D-printed cryogenic engine. Credit: The Indian Express

• The Carlisle brothers are going mystic. Not really, because when SpaceX veterans Robert, Ryan and Kirby Carlilse say they’re going to use “moon water” to power their spacecraft, they’re talking about actual water harvested from the celestial body. The brothers’ new startup, Argo Space Corporation, hopes that designing for a lunar propellant – instead of an Earth-based one – will give them a leg up in the geosynchronous or cislunar arenas.   

• Still delayed at LaGuardia Airport? Blame, space launch (kidding). But it does seem that the FAA is at least concerned enough about increased congestion of air space that the organization has issued new guidance for commercial space launch. These guidelines for approving space launches will consider a range of factors, including the location, timing, number of flights and/or passengers affected, the duration of the launch window, and notably, the mission purpose (i.e. whether it serves a national security function). 

• Looks like the FAA aren't the only ones prioritizing national security interests. Coming out of stealth mode in a big way, True Anomaly, a space security and sustainability company, has raised $30 million in funding, including a $17 million Series A round. The company’s team is made up of former military operators and engineers, and has developed a “fully-integrated platform with seamless satellite, navigation, and data-capture technologies designed to provide unparalleled security and training for the rapidly evolving space market.”

• Australia may be making global (universal?) waves with an innovative new spacecraft. Adelaide-based startup Paladin Space recently shared its street-sweeper for space. With the ability to gobble up a “bellyful of debris,” Paladin’s space junk compactor may be an incredibly valuable asset to agencies around the world, with the ESA’s current going rate of €100 million to remove a single piece of space trash.

Depiction of Paladin’s orbital “street sweeper” capable of collecting fragments of space junk before disposing of them in the Earth’s atmosphere or delivering to future space recycling foundries. Credit: Paladin Space

• Space Capital founder Chad Anderson released a book this month called The Space Economy, which aims to provide guidance to investors and entrepreneurs who may be eager to get involved in the private space-based technology biz.