November's Space Dirt 🚀

While there wasn’t much real estate activity this month, there was a whole lot of everything else.

Let’s get to it.

REAL ESTATE HIGHLIGHTS

Heart Aerospace, based in Gothenburg, Sweden, leased 5,966 SF at 201-205 Nevada St, El Segundo. (source: Me!)

Super Micro Computer, based in San Jose, California, leased 156,000 SF at 4701 S Santa Fe Ave, Vernon, CA. (source: Me!)

FREEFORM OFFICE VISIT

Last week, Freeform’s Head of Talent, Cameron Kay, was kind enough to give me a comprehensive tour of their Hawthorne, CA office. Freeform occupies all 20,097 square feet in a building that was at one time home to Keanu Reeves’ motorcycle company (ARCH Motorcycle).

Freeform is on a mission to deploy autonomous, high-volume metal 3D printing factories across the globe, making the transformative power of 3D printing available to all industries at scale and unlock the future of innovation. The company has been on a bit of a roll lately and I recommend this TechCrunch article for the full rundown (or check out past issues of Space Dirt).

If this sounds like the place you’d like to work - GOOD NEWS - because Freeform is searching for talent across many engineering and operations disciplines. Currently at 40 employees and growing, you can find all of Freeform’s job openings here:

Freeform’s team comes from many different backgrounds: aerospace, big tech, consumer electronics, semiconductors, defense, and more. Cameron wanted me to let you know that 3D printing experience is not required; they look for smart, motivated, collaborative people who love solving hard problems and creating world-changing technology. 

STEALTH NO MORE

Matter Intelligence, a California-based remote sensing startup, has emerged from stealth, unveiling its plans to launch space sensors capable of capturing never-before-seen data about all matter on Earth, from surface to atmosphere. Matter Intelligence was founded by former NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) engineers Vishnu Sridhar and Thomas Chrien, and former Caltech scientist Nathan Stein. Matter Intelligence also has secured $12 million in seed funding led by Lowercarbon Capital, with participation from Toyota Ventures, Pear, Mark Cuban, and E2MC. The funding will accelerate the development of Matter’s sensing infrastructure. (source: CityBiz)

Alex Green, Managing Partner, announced on X that he’s taking Administratum out of stealth. “Administratum is kickstarting the Singularity, and it will empower America to manufacture Peace on Earth, and allow humanity to focus towards colonizing the stars.” (source: X)

San Francisco-based Ulysses came out of stealth with an announcement on X. They build autonomous underwater drones for ocean stewardship. Here’s an article on TechCrunch explaining more. Ulysses also raised an oversubscribed $2 million pre-seed led Lowercarbon and other investors, including Superorganism, ReGen Ventures, and a number of angel investors. (source: X)

Lightsynq Technologies, a startup developing quantum interconnect technology solutions for commercial use, has emerged from stealth and announced it has raised approximately $18 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Cerberus Ventures, the venture investing platform of Cerberus Capital Management, with participation from Murata Electronics North America Inc., IAG Capital Partners, Safar Partners, QVT, Element Six, and In-Q-Tel. (source: The Quantum Insider)

REAL ESTATE CORNER

I recently posted a rough draft of my SoCal Hard Tech Landscape map and recieved, as the internet occasionally offers, some helpful feedback on my SoCal Hard Tech Landscape map. As you can see, I’m old school - nothing beats a Sharpie and a 3-foot printout!

Feel free to let me know if I missed anything. If you’ve already reached out, I’ve noted your comments. The final result will be released in December’s Space Dirt.

NOTABLE FUNDINGS

Cedar Park, TX-based Firefly Aerospace announced it closed an oversubscribed $175 million Series D round at a valuation of more than $2 billion. The Series D round was led by a new investor, RPM Ventures. The round included existing investors as well as multiple new investors, including GiantLeap Capital and Human Element.

El Segundo, CA-based microreactor developer Radiant closed a $100 million Series C to develop tiny nuclear generators. This investment comes on the heels of Radiant’s passive cooldown demonstration, a critical milestone test of a full-scale, non-fueled reactor, and brings the company’s total venture funding to $160 million. This round was lead by led by DCVC, new investors Felicis, Washington Harbour Partners LP, and Chevron Technology Ventures, and appreciates the continued support of Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, Founders Fund, Decisive Point, McKinley Alaska Growth Capital, Boost VC, and Also Capital. The funds will primarily be used to complete Radiant’s Kaleidos Development Unit (KDU), which they will fuel and operate at Idaho National Laboratory's Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments facility. The KDU is the same reactor design that will be mass-manufactured and sold to customers. (source: LinkedIn)

Indian conglomerate JSW Group will invest $90 million in US startup Shield AI over the next two years to license and manufacture the small company’s V-BAT unmanned aircraft system (UAS) in-country. (source: Defense Daily)

Inversion, a developer of space-based cargo delivery, tells Axios that it has raised $44 million in Series A funding co-led by Spark Capital and Adjacent. Other investors include Lockheed Martin Ventures, Kindred, and Y Combinator. (source: Axios)

Redoxblox closes $40.7 million Series A to support industrial decarbonization and grid storage with next-gen thermochemical energy storage system. (source:

Nuclear energy startup Antares has raised $30 million in Series A financing to expand its R&D and manufacturing capabilities to support the demonstration of its first microreactor. The round was co-led by Alt Cap and existing lead seed investor Caffeinated Capital, with participation from Rogue, Uncommon Capital, Shrug, Banter Capital, Box Group, and Shine Capital. Jack Altman of Alt Cap will be joining the Antares Board of Directors. This round brings Antares total capital raised to date to more than $38M. (source: AntaresIndustries.com)

Washington-based Starfish Space raises $29 million to launch satellite-servicing spacecraft missions. The round was led by Shield Capital, a venture firm focused on funding technologies that will affect US national security. It has participated in just a handful of other deals in the space industry. The round also includes participation from new investors Point72 Ventures, Booz Allen Ventures, Aero X Ventures, Trousdale Ventures, TRAC VC, and existing investors Munich Re Ventures, Toyota Ventures, NFX, and Industrious Ventures. (source: TechCrunch)

EarthGrid's $14 million funding round was oversubscribed by 30%. EarthGrid has raised $50 million in funding to date. More details were not available. (source: X)

Portsmouth, RI-base Vatn Systems, a leading defense technology company building autonomous underwater vehicles for the US military and allies, announced it has raised an oversubscribed $13 million seed round, bringing total funding to $16.5 million. The round was led by DYNE Ventures with participation from Lockheed Martin Ventures, RTX Ventures, In-Q-Tel (IQT), Propeller Ventures, SAIC Ventures, Cubit Capital, Fortitude Ventures, and existing investors that include Centre Street Partners, The Veteran Fund, Blue Collective, and Decisive Point. (source: PR Newswire)

El Segundo’s General Galactic raised $8 million in seed funding to advance its mission of producing fossil-free fuels and chemicals, bringing its total funding to $10M. This investment, co-led by Harpoon Ventures and Refactor, will accelerate the development and deployment of our Genesis technology. Other participants included Seraphim Space, Pathbreaker Ventures, BoxGroup, Plug and Play Tech Center, Impact First, Climate Capital, and others. TechCrunch also covered the funding and included some color on the company’s origin and tech. (source: LinkedIn)

AGREEMENTS, PARTNERSHIPS, & CONTRACTS

Anduril has been awarded a $200 million, five-year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract by the US Marine Corps to develop and deliver a Counter Unmanned Aerial System (CUAS) Engagement System (CES) for the Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS). The MADIS CES Program of Record will provide cutting-edge, expeditionary CUAS capabilities to protect the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) from evolving air threats. (source: Anduril)

Redondo Beach’s Impulse Space, a leader in the development of in-space transportation services, announced it has been awarded a $34.5 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III contract by the United States Space Force’s (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) Space Safari Office, in partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). The contract supports the VICTUS SURGO and VICTUS SALO TacRS missions. These two missions, the next in a series of TacRS demonstrations, will focus on how prepositioned capabilities can improve responsiveness to on-orbit situations, enabling the dynamic operations aspect of space domain awareness (SDA). (source: Impulse Space)

Satellite manufacturer Astranis announced it is teaming up with navigation startup Xona Space Systems to compete for a US Space Force contract aimed at developing a backup to the military’s GPS system. Astranis, which builds small geostationary satellites for internet connectivity, secured an $8 million contract for the initial design phase of the Resilient Global Positioning System (R-GPS) program, which seeks to deploy smaller, more cost-effective satellites to supplement the existing GPS constellation. (source: SpaceNews)

Long Beach, CA’s Rocket Lab secured an $8 million contract from the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to advance digital engineering processes for its Archimedes rocket engine. Under the agreement, Rocket Lab will demonstrate digital engineering techniques for Archimedes, the rocket engine that will power Neutron, a new reusable medium-lift launch vehicle projected to launch in 2025. Rocket Lab said the contract signals the military’s interest in Neutron as a prospective vehicle for government missions in the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program. (source: SpaceNews)

AeroVironment (“AV”) and BlueHalo announced the execution of a definitive agreement under which AV will acquire BlueHalo in an all-stock transaction with an enterprise value of approximately $4.1 billion, creating a more diversified global leader in all-domain defense technologies. The combined company will bring together complementary capabilities to offer a comprehensive portfolio of high-growth franchises, powered by cutting-edge technology and focused on addressing the most important priorities and needs of our nation and allies around the globe. (source: AeroVironment)

Morpheus Space, a pioneering provider of in-space mobility products, announced a collaboration with D-Orbit, a leader in space logistics, to conduct an in-orbit demonstration mission on ION Satellite Carrier, the company's orbital transfer vehicle. The upcoming mission will highlight the advanced capabilities of Morpheus' next-generation electric propulsion system GO-2 in a dynamic space environment. (source: SatNow)

Herndon, VA’s BlackSky, has taken full ownership of smallsat manufacturer LeoStella, giving the remote sensing company greater control over the production of its next generation of imaging satellites. In a November earnings call to discuss its third quarter financial results, BlackSky announced it acquired the 50% of LeoStella it did not already own from Thales Alenia Space, the other partner in the joint venture. The company did not disclose financial terms of the deal. “We expect that this acquisition will allow the Company to improve its control over the Gen-3 supply chain and production operations,” the company stated in the filing, which also did not disclose financial details about the transaction. (source: SpaceNews)

Serve Robotics, which makes autonomous food delivery robots, will purchase Vebu, which makes the Autocado machine, in an all-stock deal. In acquiring the tech, Serve will expand its line of offerings from food delivery to food prep, and from the sidewalks outside restaurants to their back-of-house. The deal also opens the door for new partnerships; Serve’s CEO and co-founder Ali Kashani says that Vebu’s Chipotle partnership could expand in the future if all goes well. (source: Inc.)

Santa Clara’s Oklo, an advanced nuclear technology company, announced it has signed a letter of intent to acquire Atomic Alchemy, a US-based company specializing in the production of radioisotopes. Oklo’s fast reactor and fuel recycling technologies produce valuable coproducts, such as radioisotopes, through their respective processes. The proposed acquisition builds upon the strategic partnership announced between Oklo and Atomic Alchemy earlier this year, demonstrating the opportunity to combine Oklo’s power generation and fuel recycling capabilities with Atomic Alchemy’s radioisotope production expertise to accelerate fuel production for Oklo’s powerhouses, and to create new revenue streams from radioisotopes. (source: BusinessWire)

As part of Proteus Space’s first technology demonstration satellite and the world’s first AI-designed satellite, the company announced today it has selected GomSpace North America to provide over $250,000 in critical components and related expertise to support its upcoming ESPA satellite mission. (source: Cision)

WHAT I’M CONSUMING (AND ENJOYING!) 

🎁 This Payload article goes into depth on what was once a far-out idea, space-based cargo delivery, but is now seen as a viable reality for the DoD over the next few years. The capability could allow the Pentagon to transport cargo to any location on Earth in under two hours. Major players in the industry, including SpaceX, Varda, Blue Origin, Stoke, Outpost, Inversion Space, and Sierra Space, view reentry as a critical next advancement in space tech capability.

📊 Space startups raised $1.9 billion in the third quarter, up nearly a fifth from a year earlier, fueled by strong investor interest in rocket launchers and satellite manufacturers, according to the Seraphim Space Index report (a terrific resource if you’re into the funding stuff). Funding in the third quarter was up 18% from a year earlier at $1.9 billion, with an average deal size of $18 million, according to the report.

🗺 You know how I love a good map. Despite missing a few names, I really like the above Aerospace & Defense Market Map compiled and shared by HardwareFYI Co-Founder, Benjamin Chai, via his LinkedIn account.

🌊 In the funding section above, we noted Vatn Systems’ recent raise, but I found the origin story of the East Coast hard tech company TechCrunch laid out - How two brothers went from growing up on a leaky sailboat to making underwater military vehicles - to be a fun read.

🖨 According to this Breaking Defense article, the Navy is committing to 3D printing for its submarine parts in order to speed up the construction of new submarines.

🗣 New research by engineers at MIT could lead to rapid improvements in a variety of electrochemical systems that are under development to convert carbon dioxide into a valuable commodity.

HOW I CAN HELP YOU

Some people only know me as “that Space Dirt newsletter guy.” Although I do love that moniker, here’s a reminder of the 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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