QUILTY QUICKTAKES

Quilty QuickTakes provide short-form analysis on the latest developments in the space sector as they unfold. Click on any QuickTake below to enjoy these complimentary, five-minute reads.

Chris Quilty 10/10/23 Chris Quilty 10/10/23

More VC Headwinds Likely

Over the past decade, venture capital (VC) has emerged as a critical source of funding for space startups, with total investment surging more than tenfold, from $0.3B in 2014 to $3.2B in 2022 (note: excludes megaconstellation funding).

Caleb Henry 10/3/23 Caleb Henry 10/3/23

Space Norway satellite delays show how rough COVID hit Northrop Grumman

It’s rare that satellite operators, especially those not publicly traded, give granular details about the reasons for their programmatic delays.

Chris Quilty 10/2/23 Chris Quilty 10/2/23

Viasat Debt Slips to High Yield Status

iasat refinanced its Inmarsat bridge facility on Sept. 21, issuing $733M of Senior Notes to retire the unsecured bridge loan facility that Viasat entered into on May 30 pursuant to the Inmarsat acquisition close.

Caleb Henry 9/27/23 Caleb Henry 9/27/23

Blue Origin’s leadership shakeup: the change the company needs?

Bob Smith, Blue Origin’s CEO of six years, is departing the company in a move widely perceived as the end of a lackluster era.

Caleb Henry 9/22/23 Caleb Henry 9/22/23

Maxar splits back into two business units, but stops short of calling them "SSL" and "DigitalGlobe"

Our 2020 Maxar initiation report bluntly concluded that the combination of an EO company and a GEO satellite manufacturer was “not a combination that most strategy officers or investment bankers would put high on their priority list.

Quilty Space 9/22/23 Quilty Space 9/22/23

Rocket Lab Stock Fares Better Than Its Rocket

Rocket Lab’s (Nasdaq: RKLB) latest Electron launch attempt Sept. 19 ended in failure and mission shutdown after an anomaly was discovered shortly after the rocket reached Max Q.

Kimberly Siversen Burke 9/14/23 Kimberly Siversen Burke 9/14/23

A Billion Reasons Left to Root for this NASA Initiative

As threats of FY 2024 budget cuts lurk in the shadows of haunting GAO reports, recent awards may hint at which NASA programs and players will be spared.

Kimberly Siversen Burke 9/8/23 Kimberly Siversen Burke 9/8/23

Starship Gets Ready to Rumble

Kimberly Siversen Burke 9/8/23 Kimberly Siversen Burke 9/8/23

The Last Mile for Momentus

Caleb Henry 8/25/23 Caleb Henry 8/25/23

Viasat goes 0 for 2 on successful satellites. Here are the impacts

Quilty Space 8/24/23 Quilty Space 8/24/23

Axiom raises $350M, but is it enough to fly?

Kimberly Siversen Burke 8/21/23 Kimberly Siversen Burke 8/21/23

Is that an Alarm or Just the Sound of a Familiar Tune? A closer look at SDA’s latest $1.5B Tranche 2 awards

Caleb Henry 8/10/23 Caleb Henry 8/10/23

A hypersonics deal with small launch on the side?

Chris Quilty 8/1/23 Chris Quilty 8/1/23

Planet’s somewhat-predictable headcount reduction

Quilty Space 7/28/23 Quilty Space 7/28/23

Starlink and the Global Cruise Market

Chris Quilty 7/26/23 Chris Quilty 7/26/23

Is the ORCHESTRA NGSO Effort Ready to Call?

Caleb Henry 7/19/23 Caleb Henry 7/19/23

Kuiper spending $10B on launch alone

Quilty Space 7/17/23 Quilty Space 7/17/23

Voyager capitalizes on historic Prime Minister Modi visit

Quilty QuickTake’s cover earth observation, satcom, space hardware, and government & defense. Register here for email notifications on sector-specific QuickTakes or all to stay up to date.

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