This Special Edition of Space Business Review includes Milbank's top ten space business stories of 2021.
#1 – Space SPACs
At least thirteen space companies announce or close merger transactions with special purpose acquisition companies in order to become publicly traded, producing a collective valuation of approximately $26b: Arqit, AST SpaceMobile, Astra, BlackSky, Momentus, Planet, Redwire, Rocket Lab, Satellogic, Spire, Terran Orbital, Tomorrow and Virgin Orbit.
#2 – FSS in Transition
An industry in flux drives significant changes in the fixed satellite services segment: Telesat forges ahead with its Lightspeed LEO broadband constellation, securing additional capital through a merger with Loral and public listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange and Nasdaq; Eutelsat reaffirms its commitment to OneWeb through investments totaling $715m; Viasat acquires Inmarsat in blockbuster $7.3b combination; Intelsat emerges from Chapter 11, both it and Eutelsat see a change of guard at the top; regional operators ABS, Arabsat, AsiaSat, Avanti, Es’hailSat, Hispasat, Spacecom and Yahsat confront increasing challenges to remain competitive.
#3 – VCs Victorious
A record year for venture capital investments in space start-ups, including: ABL Space Systems, Accion Systems, Albedo Space, Astranis, Astroscale, Axelspace, Axiom, Firefly, Fleet Space Technologies, GHGSat, HawkEye 360, Hiber, Hydrosat, HySpecIQ, ICEYE, Inversion Space, Isar Aerospace, Isotropic Systems, Ispace, Kepler Communications, LeoLabs, Loft Orbital, Mangata, Mynaric, Omnispace, Orbital Sidekick, Relativity Space, Sierra Space, Stoke Space Technologies, Totum Labs, Unseenlabs and Ursa Major.
Read more stories in the Space Business Review December 2021 – “Top Ten” Special Edition.
