The Moon’s surface seen from the Orion spacecraft on flight day 20 of the Artemis I mission.
NASA
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Overview: Outside the bubble
Keeping up with a torrent of updates from dozens of space companies, just for a single year, feels like a herculean task even for a beat reporter focused solely on this industry. But what perhaps interests me most is what permeates beyond the “space bubble” – especially as I straddle what the industry cares about, versus what the CNBC audience (and the broader American public) wants to read.
That, combined with the fact that NYC isn’t exactly a space stronghold, means I see how rarely the space bubble reaches the rest of the country — especially the average investor. Looking back at 2023, my most-read stories were spectacular highs and lows, like the moon landings of ispace and India or Starship’s pair of fiery test flights.
For comparison, the space industry doesn’t command people’s day-to-day attention in a way that, say, the tech world does. Throngs of investors follow FANG stocks, and consumers look for updates about new iPhones or changes to Netflix pricing. The space industry doesn’t draw the same widespread attention to new spacecraft deliveries or rocket prices, even if those in the bubble care a lot.
So then how do space companies, especially publicly-traded names, break out to connect with folks who aren’t focused on space? Does the industry need to break out of the “space bubble” into the mainstream? Or is the insulated nature of the industry a permanent feature that must be factored into any company’s messaging?
I explored these questions recently in a conversation with Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus, as 2024 is shaping up to be the year the U.S. returns spacecraft to the moon. A veteran of NASA, the most recognizable name in space, Steve is now tackling this messaging dilemma as an executive whose company could attempt to land its first lunar mission during the middle of the trading day.
For the past few years, Altemus has focused on keeping shareholders engaged while preparing the IM-1 mission to the moon. Now he needs to inform investors, as well as the broader public, about how the effort progresses after its scheduled launch next month and provide reassurance if it faces any challenges or setbacks.
“We built resiliency into our business so that we’re not a one-off kind of company that built a lunar lander and is going to throw it to the moon, hope for the best and if it succeeds, you go on, and if it fails, you go under. It’s not like that,” Altemus said.
Therein lies the tension the company faces, between reaching millions through an inspiring and exciting mission to the moon, versus setting itself on a long-term path to making lunar missions routine. Intuitive Machines will attempt to balance both in a manner similar to Japanese company ispace’s first moon mission earlier this year, during which the company laid out a series of milestones to showcase the technological progress of the flight. Altemus emphasized that the company’s milestones will track how successful it is along the way, and not just whether it lands on the moon.
But Altemus also doesn’t want “routine” to mean “boring.” He compared a lunar spacecraft to a Formula 1 racecar, pointing to “the thrill of pushing the envelope in engineering a system that’s so finely tuned that it’s on the edge at every moment.” That’s the kind of excitement he wants to showcase alongside building a stable company.
“You could make money a whole lot of ways – but this isn’t just about making money. It’s about achieving something while running a business and innovating,” Altemus said.
Programming note: Investing in Space will be on hiatus next week for the Christmas holiday. Watch for the next edition on Dec. 28
What’s up
- SpaceX valuation hits $180 billion, as a secondary sale put shares at $97 a piece, a 20% increase from SpaceX’s previous valuation in July. – CNBC
- Amazon’s Project Kuiper to utilize laser links after successful tests with the company’s first pair of prototypes that transferred data at 100 gigabits per second (Gbps) over a distance of nearly 621 miles between the spacecraft while in orbit. – CNBC
- Blue Origin prepares to launch New Shepard after hiatus: The company is aiming for a window that opens Dec. 18, in a return-to-flight cargo mission that comes after a more than 14-month hiatus. – CNBC
- FCC rejects SpaceX appeal for rural subsidies, reaffirming the agency’s decision to disallow the company to receive $886 million in funding under the “Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.” The FCC said its review “concluded that Starlink is not reasonably capable of offering the required high-speed, low latency service throughout the areas where it won auction support.” – Via Satellite
- GAO report recommends changes to the FAA’s ‘mishap investigation process,’ saying the regulator should reevaluate and improve the method it uses to investigate problems with launches, especially to boost consistency. – GAO
- Air Force Research Laboratory establishes group to study space medicine: The military research group will look “to address defense space-linked medical research gaps.” – AFRL
- Polaris Dawn mission rescheduled for April as commander Jared Isaacman notes he was recently at SpaceX’s facilities for testing of the company’s space-walking suits. – Isaacman
- ULA’s Vulcan debut slips into 2024 after not finishing wet dress rehearsal test due to unspecified issues with the company’s ground equipment that CEO Tory Bruno said were “routine” but need correcting. ULA plans to run through a full wet dress rehearsal before the first flight happens, with the next possible window now Jan. 8. – Bruno
- Asteroid mining startup AstroForge is racing to complete an in-space demo, after setbacks to the mission threaten to cut it short. – TechCrunch
- Apex moving to first factory in Playa Vista, California, with a new 46,000-square foot facility that it plans to scale up to build 50 satellite buses a year by 2026. – Payload
- Maxar’s year of satellite imagery highlights conflict around the world: The company issues a 2023 overview of events spotted by its satellites, notably the ongoing fighting in Ukraine and Gaza. – Maxar
- Cloudflare survey says Starlink user traffic ‘nearly tripled in 2023,’ citing volumes that saw ‘traffic growth across a number of countries/regions.” – Cloudflare
Industry maneuvers
- Terran Orbital hires Jefferies to explore ‘strategic alternatives’ that the company said may include any of four options: “an investment, sale of the Company, ‘take private’ transaction or an alternative strategic relationship.” – Terran Orbital
- Starlink adds Air New Zealand as latest airline WiFi customer, planning to install the service on aircraft for testing late next year before planning to roll it out to customers in 2025. – Air New Zealand
- Space national security startup True Anomaly raises $100 million in a round led by Riot Ventures and joined by Eclipse, ACME Capital, Menlo Ventures, Narya, 645 Ventures, Rocketship.vc, Champion Hill Ventures, and FiveNine Ventures. Its first two Jackal spacecraft are slated to launch in 2024. – True Anomaly
- Fusion propulsion startup Helicity Space raises $5 million from Airbus Ventures, TRE Ventures, Voyager Space Holdings, E2MC Space, Urania Ventures and Gaingels. The company aims to advance development of its “Helicity Drive” with the funds, which aims to create a nuclear fusion-based propulsion system. – Helicity
- Starlink-enabled cloud infrastructure startup Armada emerges from stealth with over $55 million raised in a round led by Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Shield Capital and 8090 Industries, with other backers including Felicis, Contrary, Valor Equity Partners, Marlinspike, 137 Ventures, Koch Real Estate Investments, and 8VC. – Armada
Market movers
- Planet reports Q3 results, with an 11% increase to revenue year over year, bringing in $55.4 million during the period. Its net loss narrowed to $38 million for the quarter, down from a $40.2 million loss a year ago. The company had 976 customers at the end of the quarter, up 13% from a year prior. – Planet / Planet
- Deutsche reminds clients that space ‘is real, growing and absolutely critical’ to governments and multinational corporations, in a note focused on the latest third quarter launch data. Deutsche analyst Edison Yu noted that “SpaceX is certainly the major success story but now large, well-capitalized tech companies are getting increasingly involved. Politically, governments are scrambling to augment capabilities in rockets and satellites in the wake of the Russian/Ukraine conflict, and China’s rapid ascent as a space power.” – Deutsche
Boldly going
- Drew Feustel joins Vast as an advisor, with the recently-retired NASA astronaut joining the space habitat company to contribute to its growth. Vast particularly pointed to working with Feustel “on some key design trades where practical spaceflight and user experience is vital to guide our engineering teams.” – Vast
- Richard Gilbrech retires from NASA after a more than 30-year career, most recently serving as director of the Stennis Space Center. Stennis Deputy Director John Bailey will serve as acting center director in the meantime. – NASA
- Bale Dalton to become NASA’s Chief of Staff to Administrator Bill Nelson, following the transition of current Chief of Staff Susie Perez Quinn to senior advisor at the end of the year. – NASA
- Jeff Williams retires from NASA after four trips to space, with a career that spanned over 27 years and included extensive work to support the International Space Station’s construction. – NASA
On the horizon
- Dec. 14: Rocket Lab Electron launches iQPS’ TSUKUYOMI-I from New Zealand.
- Dec. 15: SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Starlink satellites from California.
- Dec. 16: SpaceX Cargo Dragon returns CRS-29 mission from the ISS.
- Dec. 17: SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Starlink satellites from Florida.
- Dec. 18: Blue Origin New Shepard launches NS-24 cargo mission from Texas.
- Dec. 20: National Space Council holds third meeting of the Biden administration.