March's Space Dirt 🚀

I just got back from a week of visiting hard tech companies in the emerging hard tech scene of Colorado. Got my fill of snow and met some interesting people. Stay tuned for more exciting news on that in the coming months.

For now, please enjoy March’s Space Dirt, complete with all of the usual sections, plus a look at SoCal’s hard tech scene via a 🥧 chart.

Let’s go!

REAL ESTATE HIGHLIGHTS

Proud to share that my partner Ted Simpson and I continued our relationship with my very first hard tech client, Intellisense Systems, helping them expand their footprint (third time in six years!) by 10,963 square feet at 21061 S Western Ave, Torrance, CA. (Me!)

Neros Technologies leased 15,650 square feet at 1924 E Maple Ave, El Segundo, CA. (Me!)

Valar Atomics leased 6,500 square feet at 1325 E El Segundo Blvd, El Segundo, CA. (Me!)

Northwood Space leased 5,024 square feet at 130 Arena St, El Segundo, CA. (Me!)

ExLabs leased a 96,000 square foot facility in Long Beach, CA. (source: SpaceNews)

Austin-based defense manufacturer, American Center for Manufacturing and Innovation (ACMI), plans to develop research facilities and commercially available space after signing a 207-acre lease at Exploration Park in the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. Exploration Park is adjacent to Johnson’s main campus but outside of its controlled access area, according to NASA. NASA will lease the land to ACMI for 20 years, with two 20-year extension options, for a potential total of 60 years. (source: Bisnow)

BlackStar Orbital Technologies Corp., headquartered near Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s Space Coast, plans to develop and produce its BlackStar Spacecraft at the Sierra Vista Municipal Airport in Southern Arizona. BlackStar plans to invest $7.1 million in the new engineering and manufacturing facility, which will encompass 45,000 square feet, including 25,000 square feet of dedicated hangar space and a projected initial production capacity of 15 spacecraft per year, scaling up to full production by 2026, with at least 50 new employees, according to the Arizona Commerce Authority. (source: Tucson.com)

LONG BEACH AEROSPACE DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY

If you’re an aerospace company and you’re interested in a development opportunity at Long Beach Airport, I suggest you read this Long Beach Business Journal article. Aerospace companies of all kinds are able to submit proposals for the latest opportunity in Long Beach (proposals are due April 2 @ 11am), which will then be evaluated based on a list of criteria, including “economic and workforce development benefits,” airport spokesperson Kate Kuykendall said in an email Thursday. “The objective … is to select a qualified developer, through a lease agreement, that aligns with the airport’s vision of enhancing the aeronautical services throughout the region,” Kuykendall said, adding that the proposal could incorporate non-aeronautical use as part of the project subject to airport staff review and approval. Let me know if you need help with the process—an intriguing opportunity for the right company.

NOTABLE FUNDINGS

El Segundo-based Picogrid closed a $12 million seed round led by Initialized Capital with participation by Starburst Ventures, Credo Ventures, Giant Step Capital, Domino Ventures, and Alumni Ventures. Picogrid has scored over a dozen federal contracts and currently has six installations across the U.S., with the seventh and eighth deploying in Ukraine in the next few weeks. The startup has a few small contracts outside the military, in the wildfire and utility space, but it’s mostly focused on military applications. (source: TechCrunch)

Gary Brinson, space enthusiast and philanthropist, has donated $100 million to Caltech, aimed at propelling scientific breakthroughs and technological advancements in space exploration. The contribution will go towards establishing the Brinson Exploration Hub, an initiative that will enable collaboration between academia, industry, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). (source: Space Impulse)

Los Angeles-based startup In Orbit Aerospace won a $1.8 million AFWERX contract to develop a novel method of spacecraft docking in partnership with the University of Colorado, Boulder. The electrostatic adhesion technology being developed under the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contract will enable In Orbit’s vehicles to dock with one another, Ishaan Patel, In Orbit chief technology officer, told SpaceNews. (source: SpaceNews)

Phantom Space Corp. closed a bridge round to fund the Tucson, Arizona-based startup’s development and manufacturing of satellites and launch vehicles. Balerion Space Ventures led Phantom’s bridge round. Participants included the Reaser Family Office and Kolh Capital. Phantom’s March 11 news release did not disclose the value of the latest round. To date, the company has raised about $37 million. (source: SpaceNews)

San Diego-based Firestorm Labs, an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) manufacturer, has announced $12.5 million in seed investment by Lockheed Martin Ventures and prominent defense investors. Lockheed Martin, Decisive Point, Silent Ventures, 645 Ventures, Overmatch VC, BVVC, Marquee Ventures, Cubit Capital, IronGate, Backswing Ventures, The Veteran Fund, Feld Ventures, Beyond Capital, and RedCat are among the notable names who have invested in Firestorm. (source: PR Newswire)

AGREEMENTS, PARTNERSHIPS, & CONTRACTS

Orbit Fab’s RAFTI (Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface) satellite fueling ports have officially been qualified, and the hardware is beginning to ship to customers. “Dozens” of ports, which cost $30K each, are shipping out over the next couple of weeks as the first batch of hardware is sent to early customers in the U.S., Japan, and the U.K., including the Space Force and Astroscale, Adam Harris, the company’s chief commercial officer, said. One of its first missions will be to refuel the Space Force’s Tetra-5 satellite. The DoD’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has contracted with Orbit Fab for the first in-space fuel sale in GEO and has selected Orbit Fab’s RAFTI fueling port and GRIP docking and fluid transfer mechanism as part of its RAPIDS Refueling and Fuel Depot initiative. (source: Payload and OrbitFab.com)

(Btw, if you’re looking for space in the greater Denver Colorado area, check out Orbit Fab’s Tycho Station sublease here.)

Talen Energy Corporation announced it has sold its 960MW Cumulus data center campus in Pennsylvania to Amazon Web Services (AWS). Talen sold the site and assets of Cumulus Data for $650 million. The deal comprises $350 million at close and $300 million escrowed, released upon development milestones anticipated in 2024. As part of the deal, Talen will also supply AWS with energy via a 10-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) from Talen’s Susquehanna nuclear power station site. (source: Data Center Dynamics)

SOCAL HARD TECH COMPANIES BY CITY

I thought it would be interesting to do another breakdown of the companies in the South Bay to see how things have changed (grown) from when I did this exercise last year in Space Dirt’s first issue (note that I primarily just looked at aerospace companies last year). However, once I started breaking it down, I thought it might be even more interesting to look at the SoCal hard tech scene in general. So, what you see below are the cities by the percentage of hard tech companies that call them home in Southern California.

Not surprisingly, the South Bay cities lead the way for many of the reasons we chronicled in our last issue.

We’re currently designing a map of this breakdown that includes over 125 companies and will show which companies call which cities home. Reply to this email if you’d like the map. Should be done early next week.

WHAT I’M CONSUMING (AND ENJOYING!)

🪐 I know the above SpaceTech Map 2024 is pretty much impossible to read. Here’s the link to see it up close. The Generation Space map organizes space companies into the part of the space ecosystem they work in. Highly informative and easy to digest.

📻 I enjoyed this a16z podcast on American Dynamism that discussed the critical technologies shaping the future and the challenges on the path to the next decade of dynamism. a16z General Partner, Katherin Boyle, defined American Dynamism as “Beyond a sector or movement, American Dynamism embodies innovation, community, and a unique philosophy touching every facet of American life.”

⚠️ If you couldn’t tell from February’s Space Dirt, I’m a fan of Nathan Mintz. In his recent Substack, Mintz goes into great depth on Why Deep Tech Startups Should Approach Services Revenue With Caution (this is also the title; hence the caps).

💰 According to this piece in the Wall Street Journal, venture capitalists are plowing hundreds of millions of dollars into startups developing hypersonic systems for the U.S. military, but can the U.S. catch up to Russia and China?

🛰 SatNow profiled Morpheus Space’s second-generation electric propulsion system that will allow New Space companies to launch into orbit faster with more safety and reliability, and lowers the barrier of entry for companies needing in-space mobility solutions.

🛰 More exciting satellite news and profiles. TechCrunch caught up with Apex Space as it recently launched its first satellite, the first of a class Apex is calling “Aries,” on SpaceX’s Transporter-10 rideshare mission. Apex is now preparing to commence a series of tests on the vehicle and its subsystems before turning the platform over to customers. After its customers complete their objectives, the Aries SN1 satellite will become an ongoing software testbed on orbit, which Apex will use to test flight software and the guidance, navigation, and control systems. The satellite is designed to last another five years in space.

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 many different components of the space business.

As always, I’m here to help with your real estate needs.

Erik Stiebel
Founder and Vice President
CA DRE License #02080746
(c) +1 424.241.4795
[email protected]