Space Dirt Launches into Fall

This is a packed newsletter. Lots of news and some interesting content I found that I hope you’ll enjoy as much as I did.

Let’s get to it!

REAL ESTATE HIGHLIGHTS

Terran Orbital announced the official opening of a new 60,000-square-foot satellite manufacturing space in Irvine, CA, adding to its existing manufacturing capability. With this addition, the total size of the manufacturing complex in Irvine has expanded to approximately 98,000 square feet. This new addition enables Terran Orbital to significantly boost satellite production, increasing it from an estimated 10 satellites per month to more than 20 per month. This expansion includes two advanced Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) lines, a state-of-the-art testing facility equipped with a large shaker table and a Thermal Vacuum (TVAC) chamber, a wire harness facility, and new automated module testing facilities. (source: Space Impulse)

India-based Pixxel just opened its first US office at 2301 Rosecrans Ave, El Segundo, CA. Pixxel is a space data company, building a constellation of hyperspectral earth imaging satellites and the analytical tools to mine insights from that data. The constellation is designed to provide global coverage every 24 hours, with the aim of detecting, monitoring and predicting global phenomena. (Source: Me!)

AnySignal leased space at 109-115 Eucalyptus Dr, El Segundo, CA. In 2022, AnySignal was founded to redefine how RF capabilities are delivered for the world’s most demanding missions. They are building communications solutions for space stations, satellites, launch vehicles, and advanced aircraft. In the future they plan to deliver new breakthroughs in the way we harness and comprehend the RF domain for military and commercial applications.(Source: Me!)

Joby plans to build a facility capable of delivering up to 500 aircraft per year at a 140-acre site at Dayton International Airport. The airport has the potential to support significant further growth, with space to build up to two million square feet of manufacturing facilities. Joby plans to invest up to $500 million, creating up to 2,000 jobs. To support scaling, up to $325 million in state and local incentives are available. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Energy has invited Joby to submit a Part II application for a Title XVII loan to support the development of the facility, as a clean energy project. Joby plans to use existing nearby buildings to begin near term operations. (source: JobyAviation.com)

PARTNERSHIPS, ACQUISITIONS, AGREEMENTS, AND NOTABLE FUNDINGS

True Anomaly has landed a $17.4 million contract from the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command to help the warfighter make critical decisions in the space domain. The startup, which was founded less than two years ago, is tasked with developing a suite of space domain awareness (SDA) capabilities for the Space Force. The 48-month-long contract will be delivered via a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase 3 contract. (source: TechCrunch)

Venture-backed defense giant Anduril Industries is acquiring Blue Force Technologies, the advanced design and engineering firm behind the “Fury” unmanned fighter jet, as the company looks to build out its suite of autonomous systems for national security customers. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The new acquisition comes a little over two months after Anduril announced it was buying solid rocket motor company Adranos. Acquisitions are clearly a key part of the company’s growth strategy: Other buys include Dive Technologies, an autonomous underwater vehicle developer; passive sensing company Copious Imaging; and unmanned surveillance drone startup Area-I. (source: TechCrunch)

Turion, the Irvine, CA-based space sustainability startup has notched six recent contracts from NASA, the Space Force, and the Air Force, each supporting a different area of its product stack that focuses on designing, building, and deploying its on-orbit mobility and debris removal infrastructure. It’s not the government’s first time supporting Turion, which won at least $1M in Orbital Prime contracts last year, but the contracts, worth a combined $5M+, demonstrate the government’s continued buy-in to the mission of cleaning up in orbit. (source: Payload)

WHO OWNS THE MOST SATELLITES?

Nearly 7,000 satellites orbit the Earth, serving vital functions such as communication, navigation, and scientific research.

In 2022 alone, more than 150 launches took place, sending new instruments into space, with many more expected over the next decade. (source: Visual Capitalist)

WHAT I’M CONSUMING (AND ENJOYING)

🛩 A fascinating in-depth piece from The Drive that talks about Fury, an unmanned fighter jet (mentioned above in the Anduril Industries acquisition) and how it came to be. Based on this, I don’t think there’s going to be a Top Gun 3, though!

🎙 This terrific podcast - from the esteemed Marketplace.com - about Colorado’s space industry ecosystem is a great companion piece to our last issue, Colorado Takes Flight In the Space Industry, where we also talked about the burgeoning Colorado space industry.

⚙️ Sometimes I’m not sure how I find these things, but apparently composites are a pretty important part of our future for everything from footwear to aerospace and defense. This CompositeWorld feature on Arris Composites sheds more light on the process and the advancements Arris is achieving.

⁍ Hypersonic missiles aren’t exactly fun to think about so I guess this will help me sleep a little better at night: The Space Development Agency released a solicitation for 54 satellites equipped with infrared sensors capable of tracking hypersonic missiles in all phases of flight.

⏱ I imagine once one company does it, other companies will see the possibilities, kinda like the 4-minute mile. This is a pretty impressive advancement: Millennium Space Systems completed checkout and achieved operational readiness of the VICTUS NOX space vehicle just 37 hours after launch – 11 hours ahead of the 48-hour goal. This phase of a space mission typically takes weeks or months to complete.

☄️ ICYMI, NASA’s write up on the a capsule of rocks and dust collected from asteroid Bennu this week.

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Thanks for reading.

If you’d like your office and/or manufacturing space or business profiled, 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.

Over and out.

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