Space SPAC Index: Falcon 9 Launches 47 Payloads for SPAC Companies on Rideshare Mission (Image Credit: Payload)
Happy New Year to all and welcome to the first S-SPACi of 2023.
SpaceX started off the year with a boom on Tuesday with the launch of its Transporter-6 rideshare mission from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The Falcon 9 first stage booster touched down on land instead of an off-shore drone ship, sending a sonic boom echoing across the Sunshine State.
The launch had 114 payloads on it. SpaceX has now launched 550 payloads into sun synchronous orbit on five Transporter missions since January 2021. The company has plans for three additional Transporter missions this year as it attempts to launch 100 times.
Four space SPACs had satellites aboard Transporter-6 mission, including:
- Planet Labs (NYS: PL): 36 SuperDove Earth observation satellites
- Spire Global (NYS: SPIR): six Lemur-2 multipurpose satellites
- Satellogic (NAS: SATL): four Earth observation satellites, including two for Albanian government
- Momentus (NAS: MNTS): Vigoride 5 space tug.
Spire Global’s six spacecraft included:
- three satellites to replenish Spire’s constellation more than 100 spacecraft
- two satellites carrying next-generation Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) payloads to collect aircraft position data
- one satellite carrying a polarimetric radio occultation (PRO) payload that will collect data on precipitation profiles and patterns
- Internet of Things payloads for Spire customer Myriota.
Vigoride 5 is carrying Caltech’s Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD) as a hosted payload that will operate for several months. The 50 kg payload included three experiments:
- Deployable on-Orbit ultraLight Composite Experiment (DOLCE): A 6×6 foot structure that demonstrates the architecture, packaging scheme and deployment mechanisms of the modular spacecraft for a kilometer-scale power station constellation
- ALBA: 32 different types of photovoltaic (PV) cells for evaluation in space
- Microwave Array for Power-transfer Low-orbit Experiment (MAPLE): An array of flexible lightweight microwave power transmitters to demonstrate wireless power transmission at distance in space.
The Vigoride 5 space tug also carried the Zeus-1 satellite for Qosmosys of Singapore. Very little information is available about the 3U CubeSat.
Satellogic’s four satellites include a pair of spacecraft that will provide Earth observation services for the government of Albania.
Space SPAC Index
Jan. 3, 2022
| Company | First Trading Day | Opening Share Price | High | Current Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arqit (NAS: ARQQ) | Sept. 7, 2021 | $9.25 | $41.52 (9/23/21) | $3.02 |
| Astra Space (NAS: ASTR) | July 1, 2021 | $12.30 | $16.95 (7/2/21) | $0.44 |
| AST SpaceMobile (NAS: ASTS) | April 7, 2021 | $11.63 | $15.48 (6/30/21) | $4.39 |
| BigBear.ai (NYS: BBAI) | Dec. 8, 2021 | $9.84 | $16.12 (4/6/22) | $0.72 |
| BlackSky (NYS: BKSY) | Sept. 10, 2021 | $11.80 | $13.20 (9/16/21) | $1.52 |
| Momentus (NAS: MNTS) | Aug. 13, 2021 | $10.85 | 12.87 (9/7/21) | $0.88 |
| Planet Labs (NYS: PL) | Dec. 8, 2021 | $11.25 | $11.65 (12/8/21) | $4.44 |
| Redwire (NYS: RDW) | Sept. 3, 2021 | $10.70 | $16.98 (10/25/21) | $2.10 |
| Rocket Lab (NAS: RKLB) | Aug. 25, 2021 | $11.58 | $21.34 (9/9/21) | $3.86 |
| Satellogic (NAS: SATL) | Jan. 26, 2022 | $9.19 | $10.92 (5/4/22) | $3.50 |
| Satixfy (NYS: SATX) | Oct. 28, 2022 | $8.29 | $51.70 (11/17/22) |
$6.55 |
| Spire (NYS: SPIR) | Aug. 17, 2021 | $10.25 | $19.50 (9/22/21) | $0.96 |
| Terran Orbital (NYS: LLAP) | March 28, 2022 | $12.69 | $12.69 (3/28/22) | $1.52 |
| Virgin Galactic (NYS: SPCE) | Oct. 28, 2019 | $11.79 | $62.80 (2/4/21) | $3.50 |
| Virgin Orbit (NAS: VORB) | Dec. 30, 2021 | $8.525 | $11.28 (1/11/22) | $1.81 |
Virgin Orbit Launch Dates
NOTAMs (Notice to Airmen) have been issued for Jan. 9, 13 and 15 for Virgin Orbit’s (NAS: VORB) LauncherOne flight from Spaceport Cornwall in England. The flight will actually take place off the southern coast of Ireland.
Virgin Orbit
Start Me Up Launch Payloads
| Payload | Company/Agency | Purpose | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMAN | ETCO | Earth observation | Oman |
| CIRCE A, B | DSTL*/NRL# | Ionospheric research | UK/USA |
| DOVER | RHEA Group | PNT** tech demo | UK |
| ForgeStar-0 | Space Forge | In-space manufacturing demo | UK |
| IOD-3 Amber | Satellite Applications Catapult | Maritime domain awareness | UK |
| Prometheus 2A, 2B | UK Ministry of Defence/NRO+ | Radio signal monitoring, Earth imaging demo | UK/USA |
| STORK-6 | SatRevolution | Earth observation | Poland |
# U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
+ National Reconnaissance Office
** Positioning, navigation and timing
LauncherOne is scheduled to launch nine satellites for the United Kingdom, United States, Oman and Poland on Virgin Orbit’s first launch outside the United States.
