Field of View (FOV) - June 2024

The video above shows a timelapse of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s SLC-40, followed by the first-stage booster (serial number B1060) landing aboard the A Shortfall of Gravitas autonomous spaceport drone ship approximately 8.5 minutes later. The rocket was carrying Intelsat’s Galaxy 33 and Galaxy 34 satellites, which were manufactured by Northrop Grumman. The successful launch and landing took place on Saturday October 8th 2022. Video credit: SpaceX

Approach Venture was formed to enable founding teams building the future of frontier technology to achieve their full potential. Today, Approach supports frontier technology companies ranging from stealth to publicly-traded, strategics with technology scouting and venture capitalists looking to participate in their growth potential.

Connect with Approach to discuss how our team might be able to support your Company’s growth.

This month’s Field of View is presented by Techstars Space.

Techstars Space Fall Accelerator Cohort is Open.

Techstars Space is accepting applications for its fall cohort! Techstars Space is a 13-week accelerator program run in partnership with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the United States Space Force. The program invests in the next generation of space technology companies from adjacent industries (i.e., automotive, agriculture, energy, mining, finance, and manufacturing) that seek access to the aerospace industry as a primary go-to-market channel, and technologies that can be applied commercially into the space and aerospace sectors (i.e., autonomy, robotics, etc.). 

The program grants unparalleled access to industry experts, key government stakeholders, commercial partners, and a vast network of investors. Alumni include Pixxel, Zeno Power, Hydrosat, and Urban Sky, among others.

Apply here or contact Caroline Peacock with questions.

Emerging Trends

As access to space increases and launch costs decrease, space companies are entering the market with missions and product roadmaps catered towards their visions of the ideal buildout of in-space infrastructure. Below contains this month’s emerging trends to keep an eye on as the space economy evolves.

Life’s Certainties: Death, Taxes and Gravity.

Space debris falling back to Earth isn’t a novel concept, but the rate at which it’s been happening lately is noteworthy, and could potentially become a serious liability concern for spacecraft operators. On June 20th, NASA’s public affairs team confirmed that debris discovered along a private walking trail in a mountainous region of western North Carolina (near Asheville) was part of the trunk from the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft used to transport four astronauts to the International Space Station on NASA’s Crew-7 mission.

This incident is the fifth time that the remains of Dragon’s expendable trunk (a cylindrical unpressurized “service module” section that can carry cargo or secondary payloads, and is partially covered in solar panels that provide power while the spacecraft is in flight and docked to the ISS) has been tracked or observed re-entering the atmosphere, and sometimes located on the ground. A list of other occurrences is as follows:

• Crew-5 over large swaths of Arizona and Colorado

• Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) in Saskatchewan, Canada

• CRS-30 over Saudi Arabia

• Crew-1 in an Australian sheep farm southwest of Sydney

Another Dragon trunk of the same design is currently in orbit at the time of publication. It is attached to the Crew-8 Dragon capsule, which docked to the ISS on March 5th. Crew-8’s mission is planned to conclude in August 2024, at which point Dragon will undock from the ISS with its trunk still attached. Shortly before Dragon re-enters, the trunk will be jettisoned and will likely remain in space for several weeks before it succumbs to atmospheric drag.

While we won’t know for several months if debris from the Crew-8 trunk will be observed during re-entry or even recovered somewhere on the Earth’s surface, another recent space debris incident raises industry-wide liability questions. In March, a 1.6 pound object made from an extremely dense Inconel superalloy material crashed through a residence in Naples, Florida, which has led to a first of its kind claim under the Federal Torts Claim Act for damage caused by falling space debris. The homeowner’s claim, which seeks upwards of $80,000 from NASA for non-insured property damage loss, emotional and mental anguish damages, business interruption damages and other considerations, is currently under review and will likely establish a legal precedent for future space debris casualties. Thankfully, no one was physically harmed in this event, although the 19-year-old son of the homeowner was present when the uncontrolled falling debris impacted his house. NASA has determined the object to be part of an expired battery pack that was jettisoned from the ISS during a 2021 spacewalk.

Gaining Momentum.

Driven by rising industry demand for spacecraft to perform sustained and dynamic on-orbit operations, there has been an increase in research and development activities for advanced satellite propulsion and maneuvering technologies. Ambitious companies are investigating multiple methods to increase satellite maneuvering capabilities and decrease reliance on legacy chemical and electric propulsion systems.

Traditional propulsion suppliers are researching dual-mode or hybrid capable systems to combine chemical and electric propulsion benefits in a single, high-performance package. DARPA’s Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program is researching a nuclear fission technology to superheat propellants for high-performance and high-impulse operations. Redwire’s Air-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP) will provide sustained long-duration propulsion to Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) spacecraft by leveraging atmospheric air as a propellant. Other companies are experimenting to entirely eliminate propellants by using momentum exchange devices or other novel momentum transfer concepts.

Although many of these systems remain in their development infancy, propulsion technology breakthroughs offer the potential to significantly increase the delta-V of satellites and to entirely transform future space missions.

Connect with Approach to discuss Emerging Trends resulting from our industry insights.

Stealth Spotlight 🔦

With more mass to orbit at a lower cost, new mission profiles and capabilities are emerging. At the heart of Stealth Company’s mission lies a large spacecraft roadmap, crafted for the challenges of deep space missions. Already partnered with the most experienced organizations in space, Stealth Company is building next-generation, high-power spacecraft to unlock unique mission sets including power supply services and in-space resource utilization (ISRU).

Headquartered in Long Beach, Stealth Company is currently raising a Seed round.

Potential investors, Connect with Approach to meet the founding team.

Regulatory Rundown

Our rapid-growth space economy is gaining more visibility across the globe. Regulatory Rundown covers select space policies, evolving legislation updates, licensing requirements and top stories involving regulatory bodies.

As mentioned in our May 2024 FOV newsletter, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY2025 continues to progress through both chambers of Congress. The House passed the NDAA on June 14th with a vote of 217-199, authorizing $895.3 billion in DoD spending. Meanwhile, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) advanced its version of the annual defense policy bill, worth $912 billion, on a 22-3 vote taking place on June 13th. The next steps in the process are a full vote in the Senate, which is expected sometime this summer, followed by a conference between the House and Senate to reach a compromise between their respective versions of the bill.

While the exact contents of the final NDAA won’t be known for some time, House appropriators are seeking further reductions to the Space Force budget. The primary Space Force accounts impacted by the proposed cuts are Procurement and RDT&E. The single largest individual program facing a slashed budget is GPS Block III, which would see only one satellite procured in 2025 (down from two originally planned), a move that would save $185.9 million. Notably, the latest versions of the GPS Block IIIF satellites utilize Lockheed Martin’s LM2100 Combat Bus and are capable of receiving future on-orbit servicing and life-extension upgrades via the Augmentation System Port Interface (ASPIN). However, Space Systems Command (SSC) and the Air Force have recently expressed interest in rapidly-prototyped, jam-resistant “Resilient GPS” Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) satellite solutions to augment the existing GPS constellation, with the objective of significantly reducing Size, Weight, Power, and Cost (SWaP-C).

Civil space budgets weren’t immune to proposed cuts this month, either. On June 25th, the House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee recommended restoring appropriations for NASA’s Science and STEM programs back to FY2024 levels ($231.5 million less than requested for Science and $54.5 million less than requested for STEM). However, keeping budgets flat doesn’t take inflation into account, which means that the purchasing power of the proposed appropriation for FY2025 would actually be reduced from the previous fiscal year.

This month’s Field of View is presented by Ethos Space.

Ethos is building a lunar spaceport.

With Co-Founders from SpaceX and the Colorado School of Mines, Ethos is building the logistics infrastructure to land, refuel, and relaunch Starship and other rockets on the Moon. The company uses geological material at the landing site to build a hard rock landing pad and liquid oxygen propellant from a single input stream. By using local consumables, Ethos economically builds products that are too massive to launch from Earth.

Ultimately, a space economy using resources exported from the Moon will require 20x less energy than launching materials from Earth. The company’s roadmap includes exporting metals, silicon, propellant and water to points in cislunar space and beyond.

Force Multiplier

A commonly referenced term within the DoD, a force multiplier is a tool, strategy or person that, when added to or employed by a team, significantly increases mission success and team potential. Each month, you’ll find select force multipliers enabling space companies to level up as they look to scale.

Palantir Partners with Starlab Space.

Palantir Technologies (NYSE: PLTR) and Starlab Space announce a strategic partnership. This collaboration brings Palantir’s AI, data analytics and predictive modeling expertise the US-led, global joint venture between Voyager Space, Airbus, Mitsubishi Corporation and MDA Space.

Starlab Space and Palantir will leverage data modeling through digital twins and AI technologies to enhance Starlab’s operations throughout the enterprise. “Starlab is a commercial leader working to solve some of the most complex engineering and operational challenges in the exploration of space,” - Palantir CEO and Co-Founder Alexander C. Karp.

Mark Bitterman Joins Portal Space Systems to Lead Gov’t Relations.

On a mission to empower the next generation of space operators to maintain space superiority and headquartered in Seattle, Portal Space onboards Mark Bitterman as VP of Government Affairs.

Mark’s background includes time as VP of Government Relations at Stratolaunch, United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Orbital Sciences. The Company emerged from stealth in April of this year.

Slava Frayter Joins Kayhan Space as SVP of Commercial Sales.

Kayhan Space produces space situational awareness (SSA) and collision avoidance tools and services to help monitor and manage space traffic. A few months following the departure of Matthew Shouppe who previously served as Chief Commercial Officer at Kayhan, the Company onboarded Slava Frayter to run commercial business development efforts as SVP of Commercial Sales. Slava’s background includes time in executive level roles at Newtec and Gilat Satellite Networks.

Can a Venture Investor be a Force Multiplier for Your Startup?

Marlinspike Capital released an insightful Substack post titled, “Can VCs Add Value?” which contains excellent advice for early-stage founders. Often times, founders think the pitch is one way and Marlinspike highlights why this is a mistake:

The common process for founders to raise money includes scheduling pitches, answering VCs’ questions, driving to a decision, and then moving down the list of potential investors.

• A Common Mistake: founders look at VCs with only one objective—to raise funds

• The Better Way: founders should think of a capital raise not just as a fundraising tool but as a strategic hiring process, or rather a strategic weapon if used appropriately

LeoLabs Secures ~$1.25mm DoD Development Contract.

LeoLabs announced a project under a ~$1.25 million DoD contract to develop a new S-band 2-D Direct Radiating Array designed to enhance tracking capabilities for rocket launches and spacecraft in very low Earth orbit (VLEO). VLEO was an Emerging Trend in our May FOV newsletter.

Honeywell Announces Plans to Acquire CAES for ~$2 Billion.

Honeywell announced plans to acquire Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions (CAES) in an all-cash deal for $1.9 Billion from Advent International; the same PE shop that acquired / took Maxar private for $6.4 Billion.

Headquartered near our nation’s capital, CAES designs, develops and tests electronics ranging from antenna systems to communication networks for A&D companies. This is Honeywell’s third acquisition this year alone.

Tracked Opportunities

Approach Venture is tracking many active federal solicitations for funding space and defense capabilities. Below is an illustrative list of opportunities on our radar that you should also be tracking.

• NASA released their 2024 SBIR Ignite Phase I solicitation, a limited pilot initiative to fund technologies with a strong commercial pull. This year’s topics include electric aircraft energy storage solutions, cryogenic fluid transfer systems, and NASA Earth Science data analysis tools.

• DIU released a call for solutions under their Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems (CUAS) - NEXT (Counter NEXT) solicitation. Driven by the proliferation of global UAS threats, the US Navy seeks integrated solutions to kinetically defeat groups of adversarial UAS.

• The Space Development Agency (SDA) is soliciting the services of a ground segment infrastructure provider through their Advanced Fire Control (AFC) program. The AFC program will deliver integrated space and ground elements to demonstrate advanced fire control missions.

• The Army and Navy released new DoD Phase I and Direct-to-Phase-IIs SBIRs for various open and specific topics. Topics span AI, robotic automation, sustainment and logistics technologies, advanced sensors, and more.

• Space Force’s Assured Access to Space (AATS) recently extended the due date for National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Space Vehicle Processing Solutions. The commercial solutions opening is a result of the exponential increase in launch demand while the number of facilities to process spacecraft at Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg remains the same.

• See Tracked Opportunities Covered in Last Month’s FOV newsletter

To identify and receive proposal support for opportunities tied to advancing your respective roadmap, Connect with Approach.

Founder Tip

Learn How to War Room.

Brought to you by Approach friend and former NASA Administrator, Dan Goldin.

Learning how to war room is critical to running your startup. It's inevitable that you'll find yourself in a situation of distress when you're pursing the really hard things. You need to get good at war rooming. You will need a physical, real-time, interactive war room process. The space is nothing without the process.

The minimal criteria are:

1. Single Person Held Accountable: If you're lucky enough to face trial and tribulation in a team, you'll need one person to be the leader. This person is singularly accountable for outcome. In a company this really should be the CEO, it shouldn't be delegated.

2. Team Leads: People have experience, maturity, intelligence and high emotional IQ capacity to integrate inputs and find least time integrated solutions.

3. Transparency: It must enable visibility and adaptive control of all program elements. It needs to make transparent day to day procedure that will resolve issues in real time as they arise.

4. Direct Access: Team leads should have direct access to the leader, who serves as the top-level integrator and decider.

War rooming is about systematic people engineering to thrive through dark times. This is especially true for deep tech teams in distress.

Did You Know?

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is able to collect funding from multiple organizations and run a program for the coalition? If there are multiple organizations interested in advancing the same technology or prototype, they could pool their funds under one Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO).