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That’s one giant leap for Washington’s space industry

Illustration: Washington state map with space company logos scattered across the territory
Analysts have traced the economic impact produced by scores of space ventures in Washington state. (Space Northwest Illustration)

The preliminary results of a study commissioned by Space Northwest, an association focused on regional space ventures, suggest that Washington state’s space economy contributes $8.1 billion in direct economic output annually.

The newly reported figures show that the space industry’s economic impact in the Evergreen State has nearly doubled since a similar study in 2022. That earlier report also documented a doubling effect over the course of four years, from $1.8 billion in 2018 to $4.6 billion in 2022.

Kelly Maloney, Space Northwest’s co-founder and the chair of the association’s board of directors, shared the latest figures today at the Space Northwest Symposium in Federal Way, Wash. She said the preliminary findings, developed by BERK Consulting and Alliance Velocity, reinforce the view that space is not just a niche industry in Washington. “We are effectively the Space Tech State,” Maloney said.

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Governor launches the Washington Space Council

Gov. Bob Ferguson surrounded by Washington Space Council members at Museum of Flight
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson kicks off the Washington Space Council alongside council members and 10-year-old Sebastian Yu. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson has created a public-private council to elevate the Evergreen State’s profile as regional clusters compete for primacy in America’s space industry.

The 23-member Washington Space Council was introduced tonight at the Museum of Flight during a kickoff event for Seattle Space Week, a celebration organized by Space Northwest.

“The council will help keep us competitive by comparing Washington with other leading states in the industry and identifying ways we can continue to improve and compete,” Ferguson said.

Washington state already ranks as one of the nation’s space industry hotspots. “We’re proud to have a cluster of more than 90 space companies employing more than 13,000 workers, generating over $4 billion in annual economic activity and $1.6 billion in annual payroll,” Ferguson said.

But Andy Lapsa, co-founder and CEO of Kent, Wash.-based Stoke Space, told tonight’s crowd that several other regions are competing with the Pacific Northwest for space-related investments. “States like Florida and Texas and Colorado want this industry, and they want it bad,” he said. “They compete for it every day. Washington has every advantage it needs to lead them all, and the window to use those advantages is open right now.”

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Universe Today

Starship drops off satellites during its first orbital flight

Starship rocket rises from Texas launch pad
SpaceX's Starship rocket rises from its Texas launch pad for its first orbital flight. (Credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX sent its Starship super-rocket on its first orbital flight — a shorter-than-planned test mission that put operational Starlink satellites into orbit for the first time.

The 407-foot-tall rocket rose from its launch pad at SpaceX’s Starbase complex on the Texas coast at 7:50 a.m. CT (5:50 a.m. PT) today and completed nearly two orbits. This was the 14th flight in the Starship test program, but all previous flights had been suborbital.

On its way up, one of the 33 methane-fueled Raptor engines on Starship’s Super Heavy booster shut down prematurely. Despite the single engine failure, the climb to space proceeded as planned, and the booster executed a safe splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

One of the six engines on the upper stage, also known as Ship, also experienced an early shutdown. For a few minutes, SpaceX’s team debated whether to go ahead with a follow-up orbital insertion burn or end the test flight without deploying satellites. The team decided to go ahead, and the 19-second burn proceeded smoothly.

“Starship is orbital,” Mission Control declared, drawing cheers from SpaceX employees watching the live video feed.

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Starfish Space gets set for debut of flagship spacecraft

Austin Link and Otter mockup at Seattle Aquarium celebration
Starfish Space co-founder Austin Link shows off a mockup of the Otter spacecraft at the Seattle Aquarium. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)

Tukwila, Wash.-based Starfish Space is ready for the first launch of its full-size Otter space servicing vehicle, following two orbital tests of scaled-down prototypes.

Otter is due to lift off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base no earlier than Oct. 1, riding into orbit alongside other payloads on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 satellite rideshare mission. The 660-pound (300-kilogram) spacecraft, roughly the size of a kitchen oven (plus solar arrays), will demonstrate technologies for inspecting inoperable satellites during NASA’s $15 million Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability mission (SSPICY).

“This is the moment Otter becomes real,” Starfish co-founder Austin Link said today in a news release. “It’s no longer something we’re designing for the future. The first Otter is built, it has a customer and a mission, and it’s going to space.”

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Gravitics plans reverse merger and $125M stock offering

Illustration: Diamondback orbital carrier in orbit
An artist’s conception shows Gravitics’ Diamondback orbital carrier, which is targeted for a debut in 2027. (Gravitics Illustration)

Marysville, Wash.-based Gravitics, which is developing orbital carriers for government and commercial customers, is getting ready for a reverse takeover that could lead to a $125 million public offering.

The arrangements are being made with Non-Invasive Monitoring Systems, a Florida-based shell company, with the goal of getting Gravitics listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The two ventures have been discussing the deal for months. The terms for the public offering were announced last month, and this week, a notice filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed a previously unreported $17 million funding round that was completed earlier this year. The filing appears to be part of the preparations for the reverse takeover.

Similar to a SPAC merger, a reverse takeover offers a faster route for a private company to go public by acquiring a less active shell company and taking control of the combined operations. Non-Invasive Monitoring Systems is a prime example: It stopped manufacturing motorized therapeutic platforms in 2019 but retained its OTC listing. The plan envisions “uplisting” the company from OTC to Nasdaq.

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Interlune raises $5M for mining the moon … and more

Illustration: Overhead view of lunar mining operation
An artist’s conception shows a mining operation on the moon, including harvesters and a solar power plant. (Interlune Illustration)

Seattle-based Interlune has raised $5 million in fresh funding to support a business plan that involves building space infrastructure as well as mining the moon for helium-3 and other valuable resources.

The funds were raised through a Simple Agreement for Future Equity, or SAFE, in which investors provide upfront cash to a startup in exchange for shares to be issued during a future priced round. Interlune used the same approach to raise $5 million earlier this year.

Interlune said existing and new investors participated in its latest SAFE offering, which came to light today in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“The company’s continued traction with government contracts, along with major milestones across the space ecosystem over the past year, makes this a beneficial approach ahead of our next priced round,” Interlune CEO Rob Meyerson said in an emailed statement.

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An unusual $300M deal aims to fund orbital computing

Illustration: Sophia Space satellites lined up in orbit
An artist’s conception shows several Sophia Space satellites in orbit. (Sophia Space Illustration)

Sophia Space and SLI, an aerospace leasing venture based in Washington, D.C., say they’ve agreed on a $300 million asset-financing framework that will support the creation of a 10-satellite constellation for high-performance computing.

The details of the arrangement are as notable as the bottom line: Sophia Space will build the satellites, leveraging the startup’s patented TILE technology for modular in-space data processing. SLI will purchase the satellites under the terms of a financing agreement.

“SLI as the lessor will purchase the satellites from Sophia, hold title to the assets, and lease them to the end user on a long-term basis in exchange for fixed monthly or quarterly payments,” Max Yergan, the company’s senior vice president for investments, explained in an email. “Full control and operational responsibility for the assets sit with Sophia and the end user, who will determine between them how operations are handled.”

Sophia’s satellites are designed to deliver on-orbit edge data services for a wide variety of applications.

“The demand we are underwriting exists today,” Yergan said. “Earth observation, weather and supply-chain analytics, disaster response and defense ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] users all face the same constraint now: They collect far more data than they can bring to the ground, and its value decays while it waits to be downlinked. Processing on orbit addresses that directly.”

The constellation’s first launch is targeted for as early as 2028. SLI would pay out funds linked to development and launch milestones, all the way through verification that the on-orbit network performs to pre-agreed standards.

The arrangement is laid out in a non-binding letter of support. “The non-binding nature is a reflection of where we are in the process, and is typical of large asset financings,” Yergan explained. “It sets the commercial framework so both parties can commit resources while definitive documentation is negotiated.”

Leasing arrangements are often seen in aviation and the maritime industry, but this is a relatively new concept for satellite ventures.

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Stoke Space raises $1 billion to upsize its reusable rocket

Stoke Space’s Nova Pathfinder upper stage flight article No. 1 sits at the company’s factory in Kent, Wash. (Stoke Space Photo)
Stoke Space’s Nova Pathfinder upper stage flight article No. 1 sits at the company’s factory in Kent, Wash. (Stoke Space Photo)

Stoke Space says it has raised roughly $1 billion to get ready for the first launch of its fully reusable Nova rocket — and to scale up the rocket’s design for even bigger payloads.

To accommodate its grander ambitions, the Kent, Wash.-based startup is also scaling up its test facility in Moses Lake, 175 miles to the east.

“We have confidence in the foundation that we’ve laid today, and now it’s time to scale,” Stoke Space CEO Andy Lapsa told me.

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Cowboy Space to build data centers in the Seattle area

Illustration: Cowboy Space data center satellite in orbit
An artist’s conception shows one of Cowboy Space’s data centers in Earth orbit. (Cowboy Space via LinkedIn)

California-based Cowboy Space is leasing a 291,035-square-foot industrial facility in Kent, Wash., to support the production of hardware for its planned constellation of AI data center satellites, according to the company that arranged the lease.

“According to Newmark Research, the transaction is the largest industrial lease in the Puget Sound region year-to-date,” Newmark, the real estate broker for the deal, said in a news release. Newmark represented CenterPoint Properties, Cowboy’s new landlord.

The facility at 7650 S. 228th St. previously served as a Costco distribution center. “This building was originally designed for large-scale logistics users, but Cowboy Space recognized the opportunity to reimagine it as a highly specialized production facility,” said Taylor Hoff, a vice chairman at Newmark’s office in Bellevue, Wash.

Newmark said Cowboy Space plans to convert the facility into a manufacturing operation supporting space and rocket development. The operation is expected to add 300 jobs, Newmark said. Cowboy is currently listing 46 Kent-based positions in its careers database.

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NASA’s chief talks up nuclear power on Northwest tour

Jared Isaacman on stage with Rocketdyne logo in background
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman addresses Rocketdyne employees in Redmond, Wash. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)

REDMOND, Wash. — NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman came to Rocketdyne’s facility here today to give a pep talk to the space company’s employees — and lay out his vision for the future of America’s space effort. Isaacman made clear that nuclear power will be a big part of that vision.

“NASA is at our best when we’re doing the near-impossible,” he said. “There is no obvious revenue model or business case for what we’re doing. We’re just out there pursuing the secrets of the universe, and nuclear or fission-powered spacecraft make sense in that it helps us extend our reach farther into the solar system.”

The pathfinder mission for NASA’s nuclear ambitions is likely to be SR-1 Freedom, a Mars probe that’s scheduled for launch in 2028. SR-1 Freedom is designed to carry a fission reactor and nuclear electric propulsion system.

Rocketdyne’s Redmond facility is working on thrusters for the system. “We built here, in Redmond, the Advanced Electric Propulsion System,” Rocketdyne CEO Kristin Houston told GeekWire before Isaacman’s talk. “It’s a 12-kilowatt Hall-thruster system, and that is going to be the propulsion element on the SR-1 Freedom. So, yeah, we’re really proud of that.”

Today’s visit was part of the Pacific Northwest leg of Isaacman’s nationwide “Inspiration Tour,” aimed at strengthening the connections between NASA and its partners.

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