Latest news with #space economy
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Space startup iRocket to go public via $400 million SPAC deal
(Reuters) -Reusable rocket developer Innovative Rocket Technologies, commonly known as iRocket, will go public in the U.S. through a $400 million merger with special purpose acquisition company BPGC Acquisition, the companies said on Wednesday. SPAC deals, which took a backseat following a boom in 2020-2021, have seen a resurgence this year as macroeconomic uncertainties led by President Donald Trump's tariff policies continue to temper dealmaking. Crypto firm Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company, with over 30,000 bitcoin on its balance sheet, said it was aiming to list on Nasdaq through a merger with a Cantor Fitzgerald-backed blank check firm. SPACs are being increasingly viewed as a viable alternative to the traditional initial public offerings, which remained subdued through the tariff saga. However, progress in trade talks has rejuvenated investor interest in fresh listings. The company, founded in 2018, specializes in liquid oxygen and methane-fueled rocket propulsion technology, which encompasses a quick turnaround time to reload and relaunch, through its patented engine design. Space startups have also seen a lot of interest from investors and venture capital firms, with the World Economic Forum predicting a $1.8 trillion space economy by 2035. The company also noted the same number, citing a report by McKinsey, indicating it as a major opportunity for the rocket developer. "iRocket's unique combination of proven engineering talent, reusable launch systems, and solid rocket motor capability positions the Company to capture a significant share of the global launch and propulsion market," said Wilbur Ross, the 39th U.S. Secretary of Commerce and a sponsor of BPGC. The transaction, on which Cohen & Company Capital Markets advised iRocket financially, is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2025. The companies intend to list the merged entity on Nasdaq. Sign in to access your portfolio
Reuters
23-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Space startup iRocket to go public via $400 million SPAC deal
July 23 (Reuters) - Reusable rocket developer Innovative Rocket Technologies, commonly known as iRocket, will go public in the U.S. through a $400 million merger with special purpose acquisition company BPGC Acquisition, the companies said on Wednesday. SPAC deals, which took a backseat following a boom in 2020-2021, have seen a resurgence this year as macroeconomic uncertainties led by President Donald Trump's tariff policies continue to temper dealmaking. Crypto firm Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company, with over 30,000 bitcoin on its balance sheet, said it was aiming to list on Nasdaq through a merger with a Cantor Fitzgerald-backed blank check firm. SPACs are being increasingly viewed as a viable alternative to the traditional initial public offerings, which remained subdued through the tariff saga. However, progress in trade talks has rejuvenated investor interest in fresh listings. The company, founded in 2018, specializes in liquid oxygen and methane-fueled rocket propulsion technology, which encompasses a quick turnaround time to reload and relaunch, through its patented engine design. Space startups have also seen a lot of interest from investors and venture capital firms, with the World Economic Forum predicting a $1.8 trillion space economy by 2035. The company also noted the same number, citing a report by McKinsey, indicating it as a major opportunity for the rocket developer. "iRocket's unique combination of proven engineering talent, reusable launch systems, and solid rocket motor capability positions the Company to capture a significant share of the global launch and propulsion market," said Wilbur Ross, the 39th U.S. Secretary of Commerce and a sponsor of BPGC. The transaction, on which Cohen & Company Capital Markets advised iRocket financially, is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2025. The companies intend to list the merged entity on Nasdaq.
WIRED
23-07-2025
- Science
- WIRED
South Korea Plans to Build a Base on the Moon
Jul 23, 2025 5:00 AM The country's newly formed space agency wants to establish a lunar base by 2045. An artist's illustration of a lunar base. Illustration:China, India, and Japan are not the only countries on the Asian continent looking to establish themselves in the fledgling space economy. South Korea also wants to be in the space race, and even plans for a presence beyond Earth's orbit, with ambitions to create its own lunar base within 20 years. At a public meeting held at the National Research Foundation of Korea on July 17, the South Korean AeroSpace Administration (KASA) released a roadmap proposing 'five core missions, including low-Earth orbit and microgravity exploration, lunar exploration, and solar and space science missions,' The Korean Times has reported. KASA had already proposed placing a robotic lander on the lunar surface by 2032, but the new master plan is much more ambitious, including the development of a new lunar lander by 2040, as well as the construction of a lunar economic base by 2045. The Republic of Korea is not starting from scratch in the field of lunar exploration. In mid-2022, the country launched Danuri, its first lunar probe, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Danuri reached lunar orbit later that year and is still in operation, studying the moon's natural resources with its suite of instruments. It is also intended to test space technology that will be used by KASA on future missions. This mission was part of the first phase of the Korean Lunar Exploration Program. Phase two includes the launch in 2032 of the aforementioned robotic module, as well as another lunar orbiter and a rover weighing 20 kilograms. This second phase will no longer rely on a SpaceX rocket or even a pad on US soil; rather, the mission will be launched using the country's KSLV-III rocket, which is still under development, from the Naro Space Center, located on the Republic of Korea's southern coast. The Korea Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources is assisting with preparations by deploying prototype lunar rovers in abandoned coal mines to evaluate technologies that could be used in upcoming space mining tasks. My KASA Is Your NASA KASA was created only recently, in May 2024, by the South Korean government, as a domestic version of NASA. It now oversees the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), which has handled development of the country's aerospace technologies since its establishment in 1989. Both KARI and the republic's national space research organization, the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, are now sub-agencies of KASA. With its new special agency and the backing of the private sector, South Korea is seeking to position itself among the top five countries in the field of space exploration. KASA also envisions landing a module on Mars in 2045, as well as the development of probes to monitor solar activity and improve space security, including, by 2035, the deployment of a solar observation satellite at the L4 Lagrange point (a stable position in space where small objects are held in place by the gravitational forces of the sun and Earth). South Korea, of course, is not the only country looking to build a lunar base by the middle of this century or to develop space economy infrastructure. Through the Artemis program, NASA intends to establish a lunar base within the next decade—if political conflicts do not derail that project. China, in collaboration with Russia and other countries, has also set a goal of building a lunar base by 2045. India also has its sights set on the moon, with plans for its own base on the surface by 2047. This story originally appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Democratizing space' is more than just adding new players – it comes with questions around sustainability and sovereignty
'India is on the Moon,' S. Somanath, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, announced in August 2023. The announcement meant India had joined the short list of countries to have visited the Moon, and the applause and shouts of joy that followed signified that this achievement wasn't just a scientific one, but a cultural one. Over the past decade, many countries have established new space programs, including multiple African nations. India and Israel – nations that were not technical contributors to the space race in the 1960s and '70s – have attempted landings on the lunar surface. With more countries joining the evolving space economy, many of our colleagues in space strategy, policy ethics and law have celebrated the democratization of space: the hope that space is now more accessible for diverse participants. We are a team of researchers based across four countries with expertise in space policy and law, ethics, geography and anthropology who have written about the difficulties and importance of inclusion in space. Major players like the U.S., the European Union and China may once have dominated space and seen it as a place to try out new commercial and military ventures. Emerging new players in space, like other countries, commercial interests and nongovernmental organizations, may have other goals and rationales. Unexpected new initiatives from these newcomers could shift perceptions of space from something to dominate and possess to something more inclusive, equitable and democratic. We address these emerging and historical tensions in a paper published in May 2025 in the journal Nature, in which we describe the difficulties and importance of including nontraditional actors and Indigenous peoples in the space industry. Continuing inequalities among space players Not all countries' space agencies are equal. Newer agencies often don't have the same resources behind them that large, established players do. The U.S. and Chinese programs receive much more funding than those of any other country. Because they are most frequently sending up satellites and proposing new ideas puts them in the position to establish conventions for satellite systems, landing sites and resource extraction that everyone else may have to follow. Sometimes, countries may have operated on the assumption that owning a satellite would give them the appearance of soft or hard geopolitical power as a space nation – and ultimately gain relevance. In reality, student groups of today can develop small satellites, called CubeSats, autonomously, and recent scholarship has concluded that even successful space missions may negatively affect the international relationships between some countries and their partners. The respect a country expects to receive may not materialize, and the costs to keep up can outstrip gains in potential prestige. Environmental protection and Indigenous perspectives Usually, building the infrastructure necessary to test and launch rockets requires a remote area with established roads. In many cases, companies and space agencies have placed these facilities on lands where Indigenous peoples have strong claims, which can lead to land disputes, like in western Australia. Many of these sites have already been subject to human-made changes, through mining and resource extraction in the past. Many sites have been ground zero for tensions with Indigenous peoples over land use. Within these contested spaces, disputes are rife. Because of these tensions around land use, it is important to include Indigenous claims and perspectives. Doing so can help make sure that the goal of protecting the environments of outer space and Earth are not cast aside while building space infrastructure here on Earth. Some efforts are driving this more inclusive approach to engagement in space, including initiatives like 'Dark and Quiet Skies', a movement that works to ensure that people can stargaze and engage with the stars without noise or sound pollution. This movement and other inclusive approaches operate on the principle of reciprocity: that more players getting involved with space can benefit all. Researchers have recognized similar dynamics within the larger space industry. Some scholars have come to the conclusion that even though the space industry is 'pay to play,' commitments to reciprocity can help ensure that players in space exploration who may not have the financial or infrastructural means to support individual efforts can still access broader structures of support. The downside of more players entering space is that this expansion can make protecting the environment – both on Earth and beyond – even harder. The more players there are, at both private and international levels, the more difficult sustainable space exploration could become. Even with good will and the best of intentions, it would be difficult to enforce uniform standards for the exploration and use of space resources that would protect the lunar surface, Mars and beyond. It may also grow harder to police the launch of satellites and dedicated constellations. Limiting the number of satellites could prevent space junk, protect the satellites already in orbit and allow everyone to have a clear view of the night sky. However, this would have to compete with efforts to expand internet access to all. What is space exploration for? Before tackling these issues, we find it useful to think about the larger goal of space exploration, and what the different approaches are. One approach would be the fast and inclusive democratization of space – making it easier for more players to join in. Another would be a more conservative and slower 'big player' approach, which would restrict who can go to space. The conservative approach is liable to leave developing nations and Indigenous peoples firmly on the outside of a key process shaping humanity's shared future. But a faster and more inclusive approach to space would not be easy to run. More serious players means it would be harder to come to an agreement about regulations, as well as the larger goals for human expansion into space. Narratives around emerging technologies, such as those required for space exploration, can change over time, as people begin to see them in action. Technology that we take for granted today was once viewed as futuristic or fantastical, and sometimes with suspicion. For example, at the end of the 1940s, George Orwell imagined a world in which totalitarian systems used tele-screens and videoconferencing to control the masses. Earlier in the same decade, Thomas J. Watson, then president of IBM, notoriously predicted that there would be a global market for about five computers. We as humans often fear or mistrust future technologies. However, not all technological shifts are detrimental, and some technological changes can have clear benefits. In the future, robots may perform tasks too dangerous, too difficult or too dull and repetitive for humans. Biotechnology may make life healthier. Artificial intelligence can sift through vast amounts of data and turn it into reliable guesswork. Researchers can also see genuine downsides to each of these technologies. Space exploration is harder to squeeze into one streamlined narrative about the anticipated benefits. The process is just too big and too transformative. To return to the question if we should go to space, our team argues that it is not a question of whether or not we should go, but rather a question of why we do it, who benefits from space exploration and how we can democratize access to broader segments of society. Including a diversity of opinions and viewpoints can help find productive ways forward. Ultimately, it is not necessary for everyone to land on one single narrative about the value of space exploration. Even our team of four researchers doesn't share a single set of beliefs about its value. But bringing more nations, tribes and companies into discussions around its potential value can help create collaborative and worthwhile goals at an international scale. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Timiebi Aganaba, Arizona State University; Adam Fish, UNSW Sydney; Deondre Smiles, University of Victoria, and Tony Milligan, King's College London Read more: Astronomers have warned against colonial practices in the space industry − a philosopher of science explains how the industry could explore other planets without exploiting them Astronomers have warned against colonial practices in the space industry − a philosopher of science explains how the industry could explore other planets without exploiting them The Starbase rocket testing facility is permanently changing the landscape of southern Texas Tony Milligan receives funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 856543). Adam Fish, Deondre Smiles, and Timiebi Aganaba do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Space investment soars despite market turbulence
After years of being treated as a frontier opportunity, the space economy is now firmly entering the mainstream. The sector just posted one of its hottest quarters since 2021 without a single SpaceX ( mega-round. It was driven not just by record-breaking capital flows but by a broader recognition that space is a macro-relevant asset class reshaping defense, connectivity, and global intelligence. European governments are spending like it's 1949, and high-profile exits signal a thaw in the IPO market. Private capital surged even as the volatility index (^VIX) hit pandemic-era highs. In Q2 alone, 113 companies raised $7.8 billion, bringing total investment since 2009 to $357.8 billion. Venture capital made up 77% of this year's funding (up from 54% in 2024), signaling that professional investors are doubling down even as public markets wobble. Amid the noise, one signal stands out: Capital is flowing to companies that turn space data into decisive advantages on Earth. This is the trade to watch, because in 2025, the real moonshot isn't the rocket. It's the revenue. From commercial dreams to government-backed growth The clearest signal of this shift is the rise of defense. The US government's $175 billion Golden Dome initiative — an ambitious plan to harden national security through resilient, space-based infrastructure — has catalyzed investor confidence. This massive source of funding is key to long-term growth. Commercial markets may be heating up, but nothing beats the scale or certainty of the government checkbook, and space startups are increasingly prioritizing stable, well-funded public contracts. Another trend worth talking about: Europe is getting serious about the space domain as the continent pushes for greater sovereignty. NATO members are pledging 5% of GDP to defense, the EU has carved space into its new Competitiveness Fund, and deals like France's 1.6 billion euro ($1.8 billion) Eutelsat rescue and SES's proposed 2.8 billion euro ($3.2 billion) Intelsat merger show that Brussels is trying to counterbalance Starlink. Over the long term, this could pose risks for some US companies. But for now, this ambition is limited by a fundamental reality: 80% of European hardware is still imported, mostly from the US. The continent is as likely to write checks in Hawthorne, Calif., as in Toulouse, France, at least until homegrown heavy launchers prove themselves. Infrastructure and applications: The defense tech supercycle Investors poured $3.2 billion into the infrastructure layer this quarter, up 60% since the prior quarter, which is its strongest showing in five quarters. These are the hardware-heavy plays: satellites, rockets, propulsion systems. Leading the way were Applied Intuition's $600 million Series F and Impulse Space's $300 million Series C, both US-based and both aligned with Golden Dome's push for dual-use, AI-native systems. Seed-stage checks averaged $8 million — a 36% jump — and Series C valuations climbed 30%. This is the "picks and shovels" layer of the space economy. These companies are building the foundation for national defense, global intelligence, and future economic expansion in orbit. For investors, they offer earlier-stage access to mission-critical technologies that governments are now committed to buying. While SpaceX is still the apex player in the space economy, with $15.5 billion in projected 2025 revenue, its dominance is no longer absolute. Four Starship mishaps this year, mounting political entanglements, and rising competition have raised investor eyebrows. Eight of the 10 largest infrastructure deals this quarter involved companies building in areas once thought squarely in SpaceX's path. SpaceX isn't going away, but it's no longer the only game in town. That's healthy for the ecosystem and creates fresh opportunities for investors looking to diversify their exposure. But for the real heat, look to applications. Applications banked $4.4 billion, the second‑highest quarter in three years, and 86% of that cash chased defense‑tilted geospatial intelligence (GEOINT). Anduril's ( $2.5 billion Series G cemented its status as the world's most valuable defense-tech startup. Europe's Helsing raised $683 million, and US-based Chaos raised $275 million. This layer is often misunderstood. These aren't the rockets and space stations that people often consider "space companies." They're software and defense platforms that leverage orbital infrastructure. That makes them more accessible to public investors, as many already trade on major exchanges or are approaching IPO readiness. This is where retail and institutional investors alike can gain exposure with less exposure to hardware timelines or launch risk. Exits are back, but the bar is higher Of the 637 infrastructure startups that raised a seed round since 2009, only 14 have made it to Series E — a survival rate of just 2%. The real crucible is the Series C-to-D gap, where capital becomes scarcer and technical risks collide with commercialization challenges. Application-layer startups, by contrast, show stronger scalability: 66% of those that reach Series D survive to Series E. Software still scales faster, especially once product-market fit is locked in. Despite this brutal attrition curve, Q2 delivered signs of life on the exit front. The quarter delivered 20 exits worth $1.8 billion: 18 acquisitions and two IPOs. Voyager Technologies (VOYG) floated at a frothy 26x sales, popped 82% on day one, then sagged as investors read the income statement: $144 million revenue, $66 million loss, and meager growth. Meanwhile, CaoCao Mobility ( was priced at just 1.3x sales, the lowest multiple in the cohort, and still struggled to gain momentum. The liquidity outlook for the rest of 2025 is cautiously optimistic. Already in early Q3, Texas-based Firefly, which makes rockets, space tugs, and lunar landers, has filed for a Nasdaq IPO. ICEYE is reportedly exploring a public debut, and Sierra Space continues to weigh its long-anticipated offering. The most valuable private companies, available in the second quarter Space IQ report, may provide clues to who will be next. M&A activity, meanwhile, is on track to surpass 2024's record volume, but the game has changed. The era of "growth at any cost" is over. Acquirers are demanding solid unit economics, and IPO buyers remain skeptical of burn-heavy stories. But with defense tech trading at premiums and the S&P 500 (^GSPC) hitting record highs, the window may be opening again with several GEOINT players rumored to be testing the waters later this year. What's next Once Starship becomes fully operational, it is expected to drive an order-of-magnitude drop in launch costs that will unlock entirely new industries, such as logistics, stations, lunar, and industrials, which currently represent just 3% of invested capital. That's the next big wave. But for now, here's what investors should watch: First, follow the defense startups aligned with national security missions are winning larger contracts and growing faster. This is a stable and expanding revenue base. Second, prioritize real revenue and capital efficiency. Q2 rewarded companies that showed a credible path to profit, such as Anduril and SandboxAQ ( and punished those reliant on multiple expansions. Third, bet on applications. Software and autonomy platforms built on space data are where the growth and public-market opportunity is now. These companies scale faster and are increasingly accessible to retail investors. The second quarter marked a significant turning point for the sector, and the companies that turn space-based capabilities into decisive advantages here on Earth are the ones attracting capital. For investors, it's not just about what gets to orbit anymore. It's about what delivers returns on the ground. Chad Anderson is the founder and managing partner of Space Capital, where he has been pioneering investment in the space economy for over a decade. He is an investor in SpaceX, along with dozens of other space companies, and is the author of "The Space Economy," published by Wiley. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
