May's Space Dirt 🚀 (mid-month)

Surprise!

Bet you didn’t expect to see Space Dirt in your inbox at this time of the month.

But if you noticed that Space Dirt seemed to be getting longer… and longer over the last few issues, so did I.

And while I love making this newsletter every month, even I was getting tired by the time I finished reading it, so I’m gonna try to make it a better experience by splitting it into two issues a month.

As always, I’m here for comments and feedback. My goal is to make this the best experience for the Space Dirt audience.

All that said, this issue is STILL packed.

Let’s go!

REAL ESTATE HIGHLIGHTS

Picogrid leased Castelion's old space (16,800 SF) at 737 Lairport Street, El Segundo, CA. (source: Me!)

SpaceX leased the entire 18,422 SF at 3503 Jack Northrop Ave, Hawthorne, CA. (source: Me!)

Oligo Space leased 4,000 SF at 3457 W El Segundo Blvd, Hawthorne, CA. (source: Me!)

Saronic announced the opening of its newly renovated Galveston, TX facility. The updated space will continue to support the rapid iteration & testing of our growing family of ASVs on open water, ensuring each vessel is highly capable, reliable, and mission-ready. (source: X)

Karman Space & Defense opens its new facility in Decatur, AL. (source: X)

Seagate Space now has a base of operations at the ARK Innovation Center in St. Petersburg, FL. (source: LinkedIn)

Breaker announced its U.S. office is now based out of the Capital Factory, in Austin, TX. (source: LinkedIn)

UNION Technologies moved into a 222,000 SF facility in Carrollton, TX. More on UNION below. (source: Me!)

STEALTH NO MORE

Dallas, TX-based, UNION Technologies, emerged from stealth, announcing the close of an oversubscribed $50 million Seed round of financing led by Bravo Victor Venture Capital (BVVC), alongside their strategic co-lead and first customer, Regulus, a boutique defense prime focused on securing global supply chains and logistics. Additional participation came from a coalition determined to restore America's industrial might, including Silent Ventures, Decisive Point, Vanderbilt University, RKKVC, IronGate, and several prominent family offices committed to reindustrializing the American manufacturing sector. "UNION factories are the new arsenal of deterrence for America. Our factories are smarter and faster–our supply chains resilient," said Will Somerindyke, Co-Founder and CEO of UNION." (source: PR Newswire)

Vector emerged from stealth via a LinkedIn announcement from its CEO and co-founder, Andy Yakulis. Vector is Modern Warfare-as-a-Service — an integrated approach delivering tactical unmanned systems, operator-focused training, rapid product development, and real-time innovation, side-by-side with the warfighter. Vector’s other co-founders are Larsen Jensen and Matty Long.

LEAP, a next-generation space logistics company, announced its emergence from stealth mode alongside the close of its seed funding round, led by Colorado ONE Fund with participation from Kickstart Fund, Service Provider Capital, Cellective Group, and others. LEAP is developing a radically simplified and responsive approach to space access, enabled by its proprietary propulsion system and mass-producible launch vehicles. Co-founders include: Chris Beckman, Adam Merchant, Landon Luick, and Michael Manuel. (source: LEAP)

​SiFly, a startup based in Santa Clara, California, came out of stealth mode and unveiled its next-generation all-electric, autonomous drone platforms that provide improved limits of range and endurance at prices competitive with current products on the market. Congrats to Brian Hinman and his team. (source: Aero News Network)

El Segundo, CA’s DroneForge emerged from stealth via a LinkedIn announcement from its Founder and CEO, Chester Zalaya. DroneForge’s mission is to push aerial intelligence to the limits and build a radically intuitive interface to harness it. (source: LinkedIn)

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REAL ESTATE CORNER

JOB BOARD

CX2 is hiring for a number of engineering and other positions.

NOTABLE FUNDINGS

CHAOS Industries announced that it has raised $275 million in Series C funding to support the next phase of its commercial growth and development. The Series C was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and co-led by Accel, with participation from StepStone Group, Overmatch Ventures, Tru Arrow Partners, and Valor Equity Partners. Proceeds will be used to enhance the performance capabilities of CHAOS Industries’ advanced detection, monitoring, and communication solutions; scale its manufacturing capacity; and drive further defense technology innovation. (source: BusinessWire)

True Anomaly announced the close of its $260 million Series C financing. The Series C was led by Accel, with participation from Meritech Capital and existing investors Eclipse, Riot Ventures, Menlo Ventures, 645 Ventures, ACME Capital, Space VC, Champion Hill Ventures, and Narya. Debt capital is being provided by Stifel Bank. (source: True Anomaly)

Apex announced that it raised a $200 million Series C round led by Point72 Ventures and co-led by 8VC. Existing investors, such as Andreessen Horowitz, participated in the round, as well as new firms Washington Harbour Partners and StepStone Group. The funding is intended to help the company accelerate production of satellite buses. The Series C round comes less than a year after the company raised $95 million in a Series B round. At the time, the company said it would use the fund to ramp up production of its Aries satellite bus and the larger Nova bus. (source: SpaceNews)

Remora has raised $117 million and is scaling its mission to tackle emissions from the rail industry. Remora is partnering with Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern, expanding its breakthrough CO₂ capture tech to trains, tackling 375 million tons of CO₂ emitted annually by trucks and trains combined. (source: Wall St Journal)

X-Bow Systems closed a Series B funding round at a little more than $105 million. Investors include Razor's Edge Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Balerion Space Ventures, and Capital Factory Ventures. Lockheed Martin Ventures and Boeing Ventures were early backers, as well. X-Bow is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is building an energetics campus near Austin, TX, that will soon open. (source: Axios)

According to TechCrunch, sources say defense tech startup Mach Industries is about to close a fresh $100 million in financing co-led by new investor Khosla and existing investor Bedrock Capital, a source familiar with the deal tells TechCrunch. The new round will value the company at around $470 million, according to the source. However, the deal hasn’t closed, and terms may still change. (source: TechCrunch)

Rainmaker’s CEO, Augustus Doricko, announced its $25 million Series A led by Lowercarbon Capital, with participation from Naval Ravikant, Acequia Capital, Drover Ventures, Sovereigns Cap, and others. (source: X)

Reflect Orbital’s CEO, Ben Nowack, announced on LinkedIn that they’ve raised a $20 million Series A to accelerate the development of its satellite constellation to deliver sunlight on demand. The round was led by Lux Capital, with participation from Sequoia Capital and Starship Ventures. Reflect Orbital is building a constellation of satellites designed to reflect sunlight down to Earth for large-scale lighting and energy applications. This new funding will support team growth, scaled operations, and the company's first space missions. (source: Reflect Orbital)

(Not hard tech, but thought this might be interesting to a lot of you)
Software startup Usul—born out of Stanford’s Hacking for Defense course and Y-Combinator—announced a $3.3 million seed funding round, led by Scout Ventures with participation from Bravo Victor Venture Capital, to help companies win defense contracts. Basically, the company’s software scrapes all of the DoD’s contracts, the defense budget, and all of the different PEOs (and their responsibility areas), then makes contract recommendations for companies using artificial intelligence. Think of it as a matchmaking service, but for companies and the DoD. (source: Tectonic)

AGREEMENTS, PARTNERSHIPS, & CONTRACTS

Anduril Industries announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Klas, a global leader in edge computing and tactical communications. The acquisition, pending regulatory approval, brings Klas’ rugged hardware into Anduril's portfolio of autonomous systems and connected warfare capabilities—delivering faster, more resilient and seamlessly integrated solutions for operations in harsh conditions at the tactical edge. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Klas will continue operating from its facilities in Ireland and the U.S., with plans to expand manufacturing to support demand across the Anduril portfolio. The deal also establishes Anduril’s first office in Dublin, furthering the company’s international presence across Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, and Taiwan. (source: Anduril)

Lockheed Martin is fast-tracking X-Bow Systems as a new, independent supplier of solid-rocket motors and other services, the defense upstart's CEO, Jason Hundley told Axios. (source: Axios) 

Ursa Major was awarded a $28.6 million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to develop next-gen rocket propulsion systems for hypersonic and space launch applications. This is a major step forward for the U.S. industrial base—and a huge vote of confidence in the Ursa Major team’s cutting-edge approach to rocket engine manufacturing. (source: LinkedIn)

Safire Technology Group has been awarded a $4.5 million contract by the U.S. Air Force to develop ruggedized electrified products and systems for the Department of Defense (DoD). This award builds on Safire's successful demonstration of its Safire Light Tactical Vehicle (SLTV) and Battle Airmen Gear (BAG) as part of its previously awarded $1.25 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Direct-to-Phase II award in 2023. (source: PR Newswire)

ZeroEyes Government Solutions (ZEGS) and Picogrid announced the ZeroEyes Coastal Alert System (Z-CAS), an integrated waterside security solution that protects U.S. military bases and critical infrastructure from maritime threats. Z-CAS fuses ZeroEyes’ AI-powered threat detection with Picogrid’s advanced base defense capability to deliver real-time detection and tracking of vessels, unauthorized personnel, and firearms in coastal environments. The system has already undergone successful testing with both Air Force and Navy users. (source: Seapower Magazine)

Capella Space Board Member (and its Founder and former CEO), Payam Banazadeh, announced on LinkedIn that Capella has been acquired by IonQ, the publicly traded leader in quantum computing and networking. (source: LinkedIn)

Airbus U.S. has partnered with Shield AI to integrate its autonomy software on the unmanned version of the UH-72 Lakota aircraft it’s developing for the Marine Corps’ Aerial Logistics Connector (ALC) program. Under the newly announced agreement, Shield AI will integrate its Hivemind autonomy software with Airbus’ Helionix avionics suite as it continues work developing the unmanned logistics platform. (source: Avionics International)  

WHAT I’M CONSUMING (AND ENJOYING!) 

🌊 Armada’s Co-founder & CEO, Dan Wright, has thoughts on how the U.S. can reclaim maritime dominance and safeguard national security.

💡 Tofino Capital Founder and General Partner Eliot Pence reminds us that as we reshore critical industries, we must also think from a first principles perspective: to rebuild manufacturing leadership for the 21st century, should we simply recreate the processes of the past — or reimagine them entirely?

🕹 Behind a WSJ paywall: The U.S. Army is embarking on its largest overhaul since the end of the Cold War, with plans to equip each of its combat divisions with around 1,000 drones and to shed outmoded weapons and other equipment.

🧪 Prelude Venture principal, Carly Anderson, PhD, calls for public and private support to help US nuclear fusion plants connect to the grid in the mid-to-late 2030s. This could make large, traditional fission power plants obsolete in 15 to 20 years and permanently change the energy landscape.

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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