SpaceTech Sector Newsletter – November 2023

Seraphim Space Investment Trust PLC

05 December 2023

 

SERAPHIM SPACE INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
(the "Company" or "SSIT")

SpaceTech Sector Newsletter - November 2023

Seraphim Space Investment Trust plc (LSE: SSIT), the world's first listed SpaceTech investment company, publishes its monthly RNS Reach newsletter to provide updates, based on publicly available information, on the Company's portfolio investments, its Manager (Seraphim Space Manager LLP (the "Manager" or "Seraphim Space")) and the wider SpaceTech market. The following newsletter covers November 2023. 

SSIT Update

SSIT announced its first quarter results for the three-month period ended 30 September 2023. Key updates during the period included: 

·           Further £4.1m deployed across two new investments and three follow-on investments.

·           Portfolio valuation up £12m to £200m, driven by additional investments, unrealised fair value net gains and an unrealised FX gain.

·           The main driver of the underlying fair value increase was D-Orbit, reflective of a transaction that reached a conditional completion post period, pending regulatory approvals.

·           Cash balance of £30m (13% NAV) at 30 September 2023, with top 10 companies (76% NAV) well capitalised with an average of 18 months cash runway.

SSIT Portfolio Update

D-Orbit announce first close of over €100m investment round

Subject to regulatory approvals, Marubeni will take on the role of lead investor in D-Orbit's Series C funding round. This round will include other Italian, European and international investors and is expected to exceed a total of €100m. The Series C funding round will enable the company to strengthen its operations globally with a focus on in-orbit servicing, space cloud computing and orbital transportation. [Read more]

The US Government awarded HawkEye 360 a $12.5m phase II contract

HawkEye 360, the world's leading defence technology company for space-based radio frequency (RF) data and analytics, announced it has been awarded a $12.25m contract by the United States Government to share satellite RF data, analytics and training to improve maritime domain awareness. This phase II contract reflects HawkEye 360's continued work with the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), which was endorsed by leaders of the Quad nations-Australia, India, Japan and the United States. [Read more]

Voyager, Airbus and European Space Agency(ESA)  sign agreement

A joint venture between Voyager Space and Airbus, Starlab is currently due to launch in 2028. According to the ESA, the new agreement will ensure the ESA's continued access to low Earth orbit (LEO) when the International Space Station (ISS) is de-orbited in the early 2030s. Instead of replacing the ISS with another government-run and funded station, NASA decided to seed the development of privately-owned stations that it could utilise as an anchor tenant. In December 2021, the ESA awarded over $400m in total to three private station plans, including Voyager Space's Starlab. This new trilateral agreement, signed at the ESA Space Summit in Seville, also points to a potential ESA-developed European transportation system for both cargo and crew. [Read more]

SpaceX completes 9^th rideshare launch

As is typically the case, SSIT portfolio companies took a sizable proportion of the overall capacity of the 11 November SpaceX launch. A blizzard of activity on the launch front as four of SSIT's portfolio companies successfully deployed 33 of their satellites as part of the latest SpaceX mission. ICEYE expanded its SAR satellite constellation to 31, adding 4 new satellites. Spire Global marked a milestone by deploying 11 satellites/payloads, bringing its total to an impressive 160 satellites in orbit. D-Orbit continued its market leadership by launching its 12^th space taxi, called the 'Cosmic Wander' which included a diverse range of 18 satellite payloads for customers including AAC Clydespace [Read more]. Additionally, Ubotica Technologies played a pivotal role in an Open Cosmos satellite, utilising AI to intelligently track biodiversity, desertification, emergencies (wildfires, floods) and farming impacts for sustainable policy development [Read more].

Space Earnings - Listed Companies

The Q3 reporting season is underway with a range of globally listed space companies reporting strong revenue growth which largely mirrors the experience of the private companies within the SSIT portfolio. SSIT portfolio companies Spire Global grew its ARR to $125m over the period whereas AST SpaceMobile does not yet have revenues as its early in the process of launching its 'cell tower' constellation to provide voice and connectivity directly to any mobile phone. Some examples included below.

Name of Company	Revenue Year 20231	Revenue Year 20231 (% Growth YoY)	Revenue Q3	Revenue Q3 (% Growth YoY)
Spire Global	$100m	38%	$27.3m	34%
AST SpaceMobile	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Terran Orbital	$136.2m	87%	$43.9m	58%
Rocket Lab	$236m	27%	$67.7m	7%
Intuitive Machines	$86.9m	8%	$12.7m	23%

Note: ¹Revenue to Q3 2023

SpaceTech Sector News

Starship Historic Launch

In a groundbreaking event, SpaceX launched its second test of the gigantic Starship rocket. With the potential to redefine the future of space over the next few decades, Starship is poised to revolutionise the economics of space, reducing launch costs by an order of magnitude. While the mission faced a setback with the loss of contact after eight minutes, the overall success underscores the validation of its 30 engines, telemetry and booster separation. [Read more]

Media & Podcasts

·           SSIT AGM: The Company held its Annual General Meeting on 20 November 2023. The link to the video of the Manager's presentation is available here.

·           SSIT portfolio CEOs profile their businesses: Tune into the Seraphim Space podcast series to hear firsthand from the founders of leading SpaceTech companies. Discover the background of these businesses and receive up-to-date information on their expansion, customer adoption and outlook for the SpaceTech sector. All top 10 SSIT portfolio companies are available in the series. [Listen Here]

Conferences and Events

·           Tim Peake interview: Mark Boggett, Seraphim Space CEO, had interviewed Tim Peake, the first British ESA astronaut to visit the ISS, at a private event for investors hosted by a third party. Tim spent six months on the ISS and became the first British astronaut to do a spacewalk. One interesting fact to share is that many satellites are actually launched from the ISS. Tim and the ISS crew launched two satellites whilst he was onboard, using the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer (an SSIT portfolio company/part of Voyager Space), and the two satellites were from the SSIT portfolio company Spire Global. No recording is available.

·           SLUSH: James Bruegger, Seraphim Space CIO, was in Helsinki at SLUSH on 30 November  speaking on the HSBC Innovation stage. [link]

·           GeoBiz Summit: Seraphim Space Investment VP Lewis Jones will be speaking on 9 January 2024 in California. [link]

·           SpaceCom: Serphim Space CEO Mark Boggett will be speaking on 30 January in Florida. [link]

Find out where to meet and hear from Seraphim Space's team by following its social media, LinkedIn / Twitter.

Sign up to receive Sertaphim Space's monthly newsletter directly to your inbox. [link]

Neither the Company's website nor the content of any website accessible from hyperlinks in it or in this newsletter (or any other website) is (or is deemed to be) incorporated into, or forms (or is deemed to form) part of, this newsletter.

- Ends -

Media Enquiries

Seraphim Space Manager LLP (via SEC Newgate)
Mark Boggett, CEO / James Bruegger, CIO / Rob Desborough
SEC Newgate (Communications advisers)	[e-mail]
Emma Kane / Clotilde Gros / George Esmond	[phone]
Deutsche Numis
Mark Hankinson / Gavin Deane / Neil Coleman	[phone]
J.P. Morgan Cazenove
William Simmonds / Jérémie Birnbaum / Rupert Budge	[phone]
Ocorian Administration (UK) Limited	[e-mail]
Lorna Zimny	[phone]

Notes to Editors

About Seraphim Space Investment Trust plc

Seraphim Space Investment Trust plc (the "Company") is the world's first listed fund focused on SpaceTech. The Company seeks exposure predominantly to early and growth stage private financed SpaceTech businesses that have the potential to dominate globally and that are sector leaders with first mover advantages in areas such as climate, communications, mobility and cyber security.

The Company is listed on the Premium Segment of the London Stock Exchange.

Further information is available at: https://investors.seraphim.vc.

About Seraphim Space Manager LLP

Seraphim Space Manager LLP ("Seraphim Space" or the "Manager") is based in the UK and manages Seraphim Space Investment Trust plc.

Further information is available at www.seraphim.vc.

About Seraphim Space Camp Accelerator Ltd

Seraphim Space Camp Accelerator Ltd, an affiliate of Seraphim Space Manager LLP based in the UK, established the Seraphim Space Accelerator in 2018 and has developed it to become the world-leading VC-led accelerator with a focus on SpaceTech. The accelerator programme brings in-depth industry expertise to get Seed and Pre-Series A SpaceTech companies 'investment ready' while facilitating relationships with some of the world's leading Space corporates and agencies.

Further information is available at www.seraphim.vc.

About Generation Space LLC

Generation Space LLC is the US subsidiary of Seraphim Space Manager LLP and is responsible for its US activities. Generation Space LLC is an affiliate of Seraphim Space Camp Accelerator Ltd and is responsible for delivery of the US Generation Space Accelerator.

Further information is available at www.generation.space.

 

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