February's Space Dirt 🚀

We start this month’s newsletter reporting on eight (8!) real estate moves. And it only gets better from there.

Let’s go!

REAL ESTATE HIGHLIGHTS

CesiumAstro leased 24,000 square feet at 101 Continental Blvd, El Segundo, CA. (source: Me!)

Antares leased 128,000 square feet at 19501 Prairie Avenue, Torrance, CA. (Keep scrolling to check out my Antares visit.) (source: Me!)

Airship Industries leased space at 1245 Factory Place, Los Angeles, CA. (source: Me!)

True Anomaly leased 90,632 square feet at 3833 McGowen St, Long Beach, CA. (source: True Anomaly)

ZM Trucks established its new regional headquarters and first North American manufacturing plant at the Almond Commerce Center in Fontana, California. The 210,000-square foot facility is located at 10271 Almond Ave, Fontana, CA. (source: Transport Topics)

Figure is moving to a new Robot/AI Campus in the Bay Area. (source: Brett Adcock on X)

Overland AI, a leader in autonomous ground systems, announced the opening of the Overland AI Factory in South Seattle, WA. The 22,000 square foot facility will significantly enhance the company’s in-house manufacturing and production of autonomous ground vehicles at scale. (source: Overland AI)

Saronic announced that it is continuing to expand its presence in Austin, Texas, after acquiring a new ~420,000 square foot facility. Saronic’s total operating presence in Austin is now 520,000+ square feet. This expansion will allow the company to further scale the development, production, and manufacturing of its growing family of Autonomous Surface Vessels (ASVs) while providing capacity and flexibility for future endeavors in maritime autonomy. With this move, Saronic also plans to further expand its hiring efforts and anticipates doubling its team size by the end of 2025 — growing from more than 300 employees to roughly 600. (source: Medium)

STEALTH NO MORE

Rilian Technologies emerged from stealth via a post on X. Rilian’s mission is to help the US and its allies secure global markets, protect critical infrastructure, and empower the private sector with cutting-edge security solutions.

David Liu announced his new company, Rocket Brackets, on X and LinkedIn. “Use your phone to make a custom metal part.”

Not stealth, but a merger launched an entirely differently named company, Observable Space. The merger was between PlaneWave Instruments, a leader in advanced telescope design and the largest manufacturer of telescopes in the US, and OurSky, the developer platform for space data applications founded by a former SpaceX software executive. (source: LinkedIn)

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REAL ESTATE CORNER

Antares Office Visit

Christian Kalin, Head of Operations at Antares, was kind enough to give me a tour of their new space at 19501 Prairie Avenue, Torrance. They moved from their previous office in Redondo Beach into a new 128,000-square-foot facility last week.

According to Christian, “This new facility will enable us to rapidly build and test hardware in preparation for producing our first-of-a-kind reactor. We are on track to complete testing of our initial electrically-heated demonstration unit in the coming months, and securing this facility was a critical step towards unlocking our ability to manufacture components and assemble reactors in-house. We’re very excited about our new home in Torrance!”

As you will see from the pictures, the manufacturing space is massive.

To learn more about their new home, you can visit the announcement on their website.

NOTABLE FUNDINGS

Anduril is in talks to raise $2.5 billion at a $28 billion valuation in a round led by Founders Fund, sources confirm to me, following CNBC. (source: David Jeans on X)

Saronic Technologies announced it has closed $600 million of funding for its Series C round to advance its mission of redefining maritime superiority for the United States and its allies. The round was led by Elad Gil, and values the company at $4 billion. This most recent round quadrupled Saronic’s valuation just seven months after the company hit unicorn status in July 2024. Saronic welcomes General Catalyst as a new investor and recognizes commitments from existing investors, including a16z, Caffeinated Capital, and 8VC. With this funding, Saronic plans to build Port Alpha, a next-generation shipyard capable of delivering new classes of unmanned ships at the speed and scale needed to protect and defend the maritime domain. (source: Medium)

Archer announced it has raised $301.75 million, further reinforcing Archer’s strong financial position and strategically positioning it to accelerate the development of its hybrid aircraft platform for the defense market and beyond. Leading institutional investors participated in this financing, including funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. This raise brings Archer’s total liquidity position to ~$1 billion. (source: Archer)

Loft Orbital announced a $170 million Series C, led by Tikehau Capital with Axial Partners as a co-lead, and joined by Bpifrance, Foundation Capital, Temasek, and Uncork Capital. (source: Loft Orbital)

K2 Space announced its $110 million Series B to ramp up mass production of its multi-orbit, high-power satellite platform. The funding round, co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Altimeter Capital, includes participation from existing investors Alpine Space Ventures, First Round Capital, and others. This milestone comes as K2 celebrates the opening of its new 180,000 square foot factory in Torrance, CA, and the success of its first in-space demonstration flying a number of critical components developed in-house. (source: PR Newswire)

Urban Sky, a stratospheric platform company, announced it has closed a $30 million Series B investment round. The funding will be used to develop and commercialize a connected suite of products that will unlock the full value of the tactical stratosphere for military and commercial customers. The funding round was led by Altos Ventures, with participation from New Legacy Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Catapult Ventures, Lavrock Ventures, New Stack Ventures, TenOneTen, DA Ventures (a Denver Angels Affiliate), Union Labs VC, and Techstars. (source: Business Wire)

Doroni Aerospace is proud to announce a $30 million strategic investment from Innovation Wings Industries, also known as Kingdom Aero Industries (KAI). The definitive agreement includes plans for a joint venture with IWI to manufacture the H1-X eVTOL aircraft in Saudi Arabia, expected to commence in 2027. The joint venture, co-owned and financed by IWI, will produce and distribute the aircraft globally, expanding Doroni’s market reach. The joint venture agreement is expected to be formalized in the coming months. (source: LinkedIn)

Karman+, a CO-based asteroid mining startup, has raised $20 million in seed financing to continue the development of its first demo mission—High Frontier—which is set to launch in February 2027. UK-based Plural and Belgium-based Hummingbird led the round, with additional input from HCVC, Kevin Mahaffey, and Karman+ co-founder and CEO Teun van den Dries. (source: Payload)

Omnitron Sensors, the pioneer in MEMS fabrication IP for a new world of sensors, has secured $13 million+ in Series A funding led by Corriente Advisors, LLC, with participation from longtime investor L’ATTITUDE Ventures. The investment will fuel the expansion of Omnitron’s engineering and operations teams, accelerating the mass production of the company’s first product, a reliable, affordable microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) step-scanning mirror for multiple markets. (source: CityBiz)

U.K. electric propulsion startup Magdrive announced $10.5 million in seed funding and plans to open a US subsidiary in Los Angeles. With the recent investment, Magdrive also plans to build a U.K. manufacturing facility and conduct on-orbit tests of high-power electric plasma thrusters. Balerion Space Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and Founders Fund contributed to the latest investment round alongside Outsided Ventures, 7percent Ventures, and Entrepreneur First. (source: SpaceNews)

Autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) developer Seasats has announced the closure of a $10 million funding round led by Shield Capital, with contributions from Aero X Ventures, Techstars, and other investors. This investment will accelerate the global deployment of Seasats' maritime autonomy solutions, including the Lightfish, an 11ft solar-powered ASV launched in 2023. (source: yahoo! finance)

Brooklyn, NY-based Podium Automation has closed a $5 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz’s American Dynamism team with participation from SV Angel and its existing investor, Banter Capital. Podium has more than doubled its customer base over the last month and is scaling to meet the demand for quick-turn UL 508A industrial control panels. This funding will fuel the expansion of its team as it builds software-enabled factories to reduce lead times from months to days. (source: LinkedIn)

Kapta Space, a radar technology startup based in Seattle, raised $5 million in a seed round led by MetaVC Partners. Entrada Ventures and Blue Collective also invested in the seed round. The company, founded in 2023, is building low-cost, steerable radar sensor systems that will enable space missions for defense and commercial applications. (source: GeekWire)

Mitico raised a $4.3 million seed round to capture CO2 using ‘prehistoric chemistry.’ The round was led by Exergon with participation from AP Ventures, Deepbright Ventures, Freeflow Ventures, Halliburton Labs, the Alliance SoCal for Innovation, SOSV, and W. L. Gore & Associates’ ventures team. (source: TechCrunch)

AGREEMENTS, PARTNERSHIPS, & CONTRACTS

Satellite manufacturing startup Apex Technology secured a $45.9 million contract from the US Space Force, the Pentagon. The contract, awarded by the Space Systems Command, calls for an unspecified number of satellites to be delivered by 2032 to support missions across multiple orbits. The California-based company specializes in manufacturing standardized small satellite buses — the core platforms that house essential spacecraft systems, including power, communications, and propulsion. Apex developed three bus product lines capable of carrying payloads between 100 and 500 kilograms. (source: SpaceNews)

Armada, a provider of technology solutions for the most challenging remote locations around the world, announced the delivery of a Galleon, its cutting-edge deployable mobile data center, to Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic in support of a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) aimed at advanced network management, command and control, and edge computing solutions. “With Armada, we believe the Navy will gain a decisive edge in developing technology solutions that directly enhance warfighter readiness,” said Dan Wright, CEO of Armada. (source: LinkedIn)

Neros has won a contract to deliver 6,000 FPV attack drones to Ukraine over 6 months, believed to be the highest rate for any US producer ever. Neros’ FPV attack drone called Archer, an 8” FPV that “exceeds state of the art performance” and carries a 2 kg/4.5-pound warhead to a range of over 20 kilometers/12 miles. It is supplied with two different batteries depending on the mission. (source: Forbes)

Garden Grove, CA’s Harbinger partners with Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling to pilot its medium-duty electric trucks, showcasing the possibilities of safer vehicle dynamics, cleaner air, and cost-effective operations. (source: LinkedIn)

JOB BOARD

I’ve come across a bunch of job openings this month. Two Greater LA companies that have a lot of opportunities are Neros and Antares.

WHAT I’M CONSUMING (AND ENJOYING!) 

⚓️ The US military has been unable to significantly increase the Navy’s hull count due to the diminished maritime industrial base, budget constraints, and workforce shortages. Saronic lays out its Why along with a bit of How and What in its plans to build the shipyard of the future.

🎯 Defense investor, Ensemble VC shares its thoughts on the defense industry in a two-part series.

📰 If you’re not already reading it, I enjoy Axios Future of Defense rundown. It includes links to a bunch of hard tech stuff that I think a lot of people who get this email will enjoy.

🚫 In his Substack, Cantos’ Grant Gregory writes about the importance of Castelion’s ability to produce deterrence for the US national defense. “Castelion exists to rekindle US manufacturing prowess while critically building non-nuclear deterrence.”

🕶 Need some new shades? Cambium LEP eyeglasses are designed to provide superior protection and color clarity/contrast for pilots, sailors, ground forces, first responders, and others who can be subjected to, debilitated by, and permanently injured by laser dazzle. They represent a whole new level of LEP form, function, and survivability, meet ANSI Standards and Military Specifications for safety ratings, and integrate seamlessly with helmets, straps, and other mounted headgear.

HOW I CAN HELP YOU

Some people only know me as “that Space Dirt newsletter guy.” Although I love that moniker, here are 3* ways I can help with your hard tech real estate when the time is right.

1. A new home for your growing business. The good news - you’re growing! The bad news - you need to move, and you don’t know the hard tech real estate market. I can help. And I come with strong references.

2. Sublease your space. You’ve outgrown your space and need to move but don’t want to pay two rents? I got you.

3. Time to renew your lease? Want to make sure you’re getting a fair deal from your Landlord? In my experience, you can never be too certain. (BTW, I recommend starting the lease renewal process 12 months out at a minimum.)

*Not an exhaustive list 💪

Thanks for reading.

If you’d like your office and/or manufacturing space or business profiled - or even your city! - let me know. It’s always fun to explore and share the different components of the hard tech industry.

Erik Stiebel
Founder and Vice President
CA DRE License #02080746
424.241.4795 | [email protected] 
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