September's Space Dirt 🚀

Welcome to another incredibly packed issue of Space Dirt. I know everyone here is busy, and these last few issues have been DENSE, so I was wondering: would it be helpful to split Space Dirt into two issues?

Basically, it would be the same content but spread over two issues about fifteen days apart. I’m thinking it might be easier to consume, but I would like to hear your thoughts…

And now, back to Space Dirt. Let’s go!

REAL ESTATE HIGHLIGHTS

AstroForge leased 64,061 square feet at 1790 Apollo Ct, Seal Beach, CA. (source: Me!)

CX2 leased 7,400 square feet at 887 N Douglas Street, El Segundo, CA. (source: Me!)

Sift‘s CEO, Karthik Gollapudi, explains why he stayed in El Segundo for their new HQ. Sift’s HQ is located at 201 Arena St, El Segundo, CA. (source: LinkedIn)

Silvus Technologies announced the opening of its R&D Innovation Center in Irvine, CA. Silvus also has offices in Los Angeles and San Diego. (source: LinkedIn)

Wraithwatch announced it is relocating its HQ from Bozeman, MT, to Austin, TX. (source: LinkedIn)

Hermeus announced its new hypersonic engine and flight test facility in Jacksonville, FL. Named HEAT (High Enthalpy Air-Breathing Test Facility), this facility will be Hermeus’ largest and most technologically advanced test site to date and become a national asset for hypersonic testing. (source: X)

STEALTH NO MORE

Space Dirt fan favorite and entrepreneur Nathan Mintz announced he and his co-founder Porter Smith have come out of stealth with CX2, which they are building with 8vc, Joe Lonsdale, a16z, David Ulevitch, and Michelle Volz. Mintz and his co-founder also wrote an op-ed in the WSJ discussing the company's thesis, The Future of Warfare is Electronic.

Long Beach, CA’s Karman Industries announced it has emerged from stealth with $4 million in pre-seed funding led by Riot Ventures in partnership with Space VC. Founded in August 2024, Karman is on a mission to help global enterprises significantly reduce costs and eliminate onsite scope 1 emissions by transitioning their manufacturing operations from natural gas to electricity. (source: PR Newswire)

Army veteran and former Special Ops Commander Andy Yakulis has come out of stealth with his new defense company, Vector. You can read his announcement on LinkedIn.

Oakland, CA’s Longshot Space came out of stealth mode with some good news, announcing $8 million in new funding to build a giant cannon that can launch raw materials needed for the orbital economy. Longshot also announced that it had secured a $2 million Air Force contract and hit Mach 4.6 with its latest gas gun. (source: X)

NOTABLE FUNDINGS

Alameda, CA’s Pyka, an electric aviation technology leader that designs and manufactures large-scale autonomous electric aircraft, announced a $40 million Series B raise. The funding round was led by Obvious Ventures, with participation from both new and existing investors, including Piva Capital, Prelude Ventures, Metaplanet Holdings, and Y Combinator. (source: Pyka)

San Leandro, CA’s Fuse Energy Technologies, has raised $32 million in a new funding round and is building technology to help nuclear fusion upstarts and the government test the effects of radiation. Investors valued Fuse at more than $200 million in the deal, according to founder and Chief Executive Officer JC Btaiche. Investors in the startup’s latest round include Buckley Ventures, Tamarack Global, Bracket Capital, and individuals including former NNSA administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty and former Lockheed Martin Corp. Asia Chief Executive Doug Greenlaw. Mantis VC, the venture firm of the musical group The Chainsmokers, also participated. (source: Financial Post)

Hawthorne, CA’s Reflect Orbital announced a $6.5 million seed round led by Shaun Maguire at Sequoia, with participation from Starship Ventures (Sean Hoge), Baiju Bhatt, Keller Rinaudo, and Keenan Wyrobek. (source: X)

El Segundo, CA’s FluidLogic, a leader in high-performance hydration systems, announced a Series A Extension financing round of $15 million led by Solyco Capital, a private equity firm delivering capital solutions for late-stage startups and growth companies. This investment will fund new product development and innovation for consumer products in the adventure sports and outdoor endurance categories. Consumer products will be available in early 2025. (source: BusinessWire)

Providence, RI’s HavocAI, a leading innovator in autonomous uncrewed surface vessel technology, announced the closing of an $11 million Seed round of funding. The round was led by Scout Ventures, co-led by Trousdale Ventures, and saw additional participation from Outlander VC, The Veteran Fund, BV.VC, Decisive Point, Alumni Ventures, and New North Ventures. This strategic investment will fuel HavocAI's mission to enable ultra low-cost autonomous surface vessels to operate at an unprecedented scale across both defense and commercial markets. (source: PR Newswire)

San Antonio, TX’s defense tech startup Darkhive secured a $21 million Series A investment led by Ten Eleven Ventures and joined by returning investors Crosslink Capital and Stellar Ventures and new investor, RTX Ventures. (source: LinkedIn)

Traverse City, MI’s ground station services provider, Atlas Space Operations, has raised $15 million for the working capital needed to triple revenue over the next 12 months. Luxembourg-based private equity firm NewSpace Capital led the pre-Series C funding round, which Atlas CEO John Williams said brings total venture capital raised to $50 million since the firm was founded seven years ago. He said Atlas currently employs 42 people and will likely double the team before the end of 2024 to scale up operations. (source: SpaceNews) 

Clarksburg, MD’s Forterra, a self-driving technology company, announced its $75 million Series B fundraise that was more than 2.5x oversubscribed. The round was led by Moore Strategic Ventures, XYZ Venture Capital, and Hedosophia, with participation from Standard Investments and existing investors including, Enlightenment Capital, Crescent Cove Advisors, and Four More Capital. The new funding will enable Forterra to accelerate and scale the deployment of their autonomous driving system (ADS), AutoDrive®, with defense and industrial customers. (source: Forterra.com)

Tysons, VA’s Safire Technology Group announced $8 million in new financing led by Canaan Partners, with participation from Correlation Ventures, Higher Life Ventures, Ajinomoto Co., Inc., Automotive Ventures, Outpost Ventures, Potomac Angel Capital, and MaC Venture Capital. This Pre-Series A priced round of financing brings total funding to $11 million, and fuels continued development of the company's Safe, Impact-Resistant Electrolyte (SAFIRE™) technology to transform the safety benchmarks of Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries across government and automotive industries. (source: PR Newswire)

San Francisco, CA’s Capella Space announced its selection for an AFWERX Ventures Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) award by the U.S. Air Force. The funding aims to accelerate private sector innovation to enhance U.S. Air Force capabilities and mission requirements. Capella Space will receive $15 million in funding to mature, scale and extend its world-leading synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology. The STRATFI investment will accelerate Capella’s innovation roadmap, enabling the development and implementation of its next generation SAR sensor. (source: Capella Space)

Trinity Capital announced the commitment of $30 million in growth capital to El Segundo’s Slingshot Aerospace (“Slingshot”), a leader in AI-powered solutions for satellite tracking, space traffic coordination, and space modeling and simulation. (source: Slingshot Aerospace)

AGREEMENTS, PARTNERSHIPS, & CONTRACTS

Los Angeles, CA’s Proteus Space announced a partnership with the University of California, Davis, to deliver the first AI-designed ESPA class satellite in history. (source: LinkedIn)

El Segundo, CA’s Arbor, a carbon-negative power company, announced an agreement to deliver 25,000 tons of high-quality, permanent carbon dioxide removal to Microsoft. Starting in 2027, Arbor will support Microsoft’s climate goals by delivering 5,000 tons of carbon removal per year while generating 5MW of clean electricity—enough to power roughly 4,000 US homes year-round—using readily available organic waste as a fuel source for its compact, modular system. (source: Arbor)

El Segundo, CA’s Pixxel, a leader in hyperspectral imaging and Earth Observation, announced its selection as part of NASA’s $476 million Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition Program On-Ramp1 Multiple Award contract. This contract period of performance runs through November 2028. Pixxel will provide NASA and its US government, and academic partners with hyperspectral Earth observation data, further empowering the administration’s Earth science research and application activities. (source: X)

Torrance, CA’s Inversion Space accelerates orbital reentry vehicle tech with a $71 million Space Force (SpaceWERX) contract. The $71 million is a mix of money from SpaceWERX, government end users, and private matching, Inversion said; on AFWERX’s website, it states the awards are a mix of with a 1:1:2 ratio, so one could extrapolate that the total capital to Inversion is composed of $17.75 million from SpaceWERX, $17.75 million from government end users and $35.5 million of private capital from unnamed investors, though the startup didn’t confirm these figures by publication time. (source: TechCrunch)

Redondo Beach, CA’s Impulse Space announced the signing of a GEO Rideshare agreement with Space Network Services, a French developer of small GEO satellites. The GEO Rideshare Program plans to begin offering launches in 2027 on a dedicated U.S. launch vehicle. The first flight of Helios is scheduled for Q2 2026. (source: Impulse Space)

Los Angeles, CA’s Apex announced its Nova satellite bus, a larger and more advanced version of its existing Aries bus, focused primarily on serving missions for the U.S. and allied governments. The first deliveries of the spacecraft to customers are estimated to start in the third quarter of 2025. A base version of Nova weighs 250 kilograms and can accommodate up to 300 kilograms of payloads, while a heavy version weighs 400 kilograms and can host up to 500 kilograms of payloads. (source: SpaceNews)

Redondo Beach, CA’s Antares has been awarded 3 Phase 2 SBIR awards with the U.S. Air Force - worth $3.75 million - to accelerate the development of their microreactor, designed to power critical infrastructure and capabilities both terrestrial and in space. (source: Antares)

Palmer Luckey returns to headsets as Anduril partners with Microsoft on US military tech. Anduril will soon embed its software into the Integrated Visual Augmentation System headset developed by Microsoft for the US military in 2021. According to Wired, the software will be incorporated into the head-mounted displays for training; it could also provide soldiers with data about drones, ground vehicles, or aerial defense systems beyond their visual range. (source: TechCrunch)

Mojave, CA’s Evolution Space announced AFWERX has selected it for an SBIR Phase II contract in the amount of $1.2 MM focused on solid propulsion hypersonic boost and target solutions to address the most pressing challenges in the Department of the Air Force. (source: PR Newswire)

Savannah River National Laboratory and Redondo Beach, CA’s Antares entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement to advance technology development related to the deployment and utilization of small reactor-based power systems. Under the CRADA, SRNL and Antares will collaborate on areas such as fuel cycle management, modular facility deployment, specialized engineering, and security considerations to enable these systems to provide resilient power to critical U.S. infrastructure and special purpose applications. (source: Savannah River National Laboratory)

Austin, TX’s Aalo Atomics signs a memorandum of understanding with Idaho Falls Power for a fleet of seven factory-built Aalo-1 reactors, totaling 75 MW of power generation. Aalo is moving forward with plans to secure regulatory approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The reactors will likely be built at Idaho Falls Power’s energy research park, with the project slated to go online before the end of the 2020s. (source: Aalo Atomics)

Boulder, CO’s Locus Lock has partnered with Burlingame, CA’s Xona Space Systems to develop an advanced receiver that optimizes the performance of Xona's high-powered, multi-frequency PULSAR service. Locus Lock provides a robust software-defined GNSS receiver suited for both commercial and military applications. (source: Xona Space)

Berthoud, CO’s Ursa Major, a privately funded rocket propulsion company, was chosen by the Department of Defense (DoD) as one of the inaugural recipients of investments from the Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) to strengthen critical supply chain technologies needed for national security. The OSC announced the $12.5 million joint investment contract in partnership with the US Navy to mature Ursa Major’s Lynx solid rocket motor (SRM) manufacturing process. Ursa Major will match the DoD investment, representing a $25 million expansion of the company’s SRM capabilities. (source: Ursa Major)

Microsoft and Constellation Energy unveiled a power purchase deal that would enable a restart of a reactor at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear plant. The companies announced a 20-year supply deal for power from TMI's dormant 835-megawatt Unit 1 that closed in 2019. Two of the goals of this agreement are to power data centers, especially as AI grows, and to restart mothballed reactors, or delay closures, to meet rising electricity demand with zero-carbon sources. (source: Axios)

JOB BOARD

Wraithwatch posted on LinkedIn, “If you're a Security Engineer interested in working at the bleeding edge of Cyber and AI, check out our open positions in both Austin and Washington, DC.”

Reflect Orbital announced on LinkedIn that it is hiring for a number of roles. Here’s the link.

WHAT I’M CONSUMING (AND ENJOYING!) 

📰 The aforementioned OpEd from Nathan Mintz and his co-founder, Porter Smith, in the Wall Street Journal, The Future of Warfare is Electronic.

💨 A SpaceX-inspired heat pump that uses turbomachinery? Check out what Karman Industries is up to.

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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