Down to Earth (8/23/23)

Good morning. We’re sending a huge congratulations to ISRO, which successfully soft-landed its first craft on the lunar surface this morning, making India the fourth nation ever to do so. Cheers to Chandrayaan-3!

Today’s newsletter:
🛰️ Sidus acquires Exo-Space
🧠 Hypergiant x Trive Capital
✒️ Contract opportunities
💸 The term sheet

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Sidus buys Exo-Space

Sidus Space ($SIDU) announced yesterday that it has acquired Exo-Space, an AI computing startup focused on space applications. Sidus said the deal will help it to bolster its talent pool, secure contracts, advance its tech, and integrate edge computing with its satellite sensors.

“This transaction provides the opportunity for us to enhance our presence in the Earth and space observations markets by providing actionable solutions for our customers’ needs as opposed to just raw data,” Sidus chief Carol Craig said in a statement.

• The company acquired Exo-Space with a combination of cash, stock, and performance incentives, and is projecting the transaction to positively impact EBITDA.

Sidus, the acquirer: Sidus is a satellite manufacturing and space data-as-a-service business. The Florida-based startup is building its LizzieSat satellites, which will be used as multi-mission platforms. Sidus plans to launch its first LizzieSat aboard a SpaceX transporter mission later this year.

Exo-Space, the acquiree: Exo-Space is an AI-tech business providing on-orbit hardware and software computing solutions to customers. The California-based startup has commercial and governmental contracts secured through 2025.

“By joining the Sidus team and integrating our AI capabilities into LizzieSat, we can now better deliver the benefits of space-based AI to more customers and on a shorter timeline than was previously possible,” said Exo-Space CEO Jeremy Allam.

Down to Earth: Since Sidus went public in 2021, its stock has cratered 99% due to profitability and liquidity concerns.

• Despite jumping 36% in pre-market trading upon news of the acquisition, the stock ended the day up just 3%.

• Post-acquisition, Sidus’ market cap sits at $12M.

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Trive Capital Acquires Hypergiant Industries

In a double whammy of AI acquisition news this week, Hypergiant Industries, a software company building an AI-powered decision-making product, announced yesterday that it has been acquired by PE firm Trive Capital.

Hypergiant 101: The Austin, TX-based company is built around using AI to solve data accessibility and usability issues for defense, space, and critical infrastructure. Its main offering is an AI-powered geospatial data viz product called CommandCenter that generates information about potential decisions based on data from multiple sources, including satellite data.

Hypergiant has contracts secured with a wide swath of civil and defense customers including USAF, USSF, and NASA.

The acquisition: Trive Capital, a Denver-based PE firm with more than $4B in regulatory assets under management, acquired Hypergiant to build its partnerships with the other companies in its portfolio. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We are now uniquely positioned to accelerate our product development and scaling efforts within the Department of Defense; those efforts may include integrating with more Space-based data sources and incorporating Space-based asset tasking in our recommended course-of-action workflows,” a company spokesperson told Payload.

Looking ahead: Now that it’s secured a buyer, Hypergiant has its sights set on growth. It’s planning to grow its workforce, currently 150+ strong, and expand its customer relationships into other parts of the Pentagon.

Space Opportunities

Here are the top government opportunities for space companies this week, as compiled by our partner TZero.

💥 AFWERX has released the 2024 STRATFI/TACFI program. This program for existing and recent Phase 2 SBIR awardees can be up to $15M. Responses are due September 27.

⚡ NASA has released an RFI for a mature LIDAR to support the upcoming OSAM-1 mission. Responses are due August 30.

🌚 Have a cool backyard? NASA has released a solicitation for a venue for the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge. Participants need a place to test prototypes of lunar excavation and transportation systems.

Additional opportunities and details can be found in the TZero Space Tracker, which is now offering new lower pricing and a one-month free trial.

In Other News

• Small debris struck the VESPA payload adapter, a larger piece of orbital debris targeted for removal by the ClearSpace-1 mission, and created—you guessed it—more debris.

• The UN Institute for Disarmament Research and the Secure World Foundation have released a lexicon for outer space security.

• Texas A&M got a green light from its board to open a Space Institute.

• North Korea alerted Japan that it is planning to launch a satellite this month.

• Momentus ($MNTS) is performing a 1-50 reverse stock split.

The View from Bengaluru