Rockies Space Fund

We all had a great time discussing Colorado's aerospace workforce and education systems at the Colorado Space Business Roundtable 21st annual Roundup this week. Rockies Space Fund was proud to sponsor and host the panel presentation on the aerospace workforce and talent pipeline. Special thanks to David Worley, Chris Muldrow, Steve Smith, and Kyle Kemble for bringing great insight, cautions, and predictions to improve Colorado's aerospace community.

Amazing news from Whisper Aero, the Tennessee-based maker of quiet fans and propulsion systems. Whisper Aero just announced a SBIR award to develop quiet fans and ventilation devices for the ISS and other space stations. Spaceflight vehicles, and especially space stations, can be acoustically noisy environments. Noise affects both crew health and some science missions. Great to see startups and SMBs providing cutting-edge tech to NASA! Read Whisper Aero's press release here: https://lnkd.in/gF4PNe48

The innovative Halo Platform at Muon Space will receive quite a boost from Muon's $56MM Series B raise. The raise included investment from Activate Capital, Acme Capital, Costanoa Ventures, Radical Ventures, and Congruent Ventures.?Muon rapid growth and highly visible success compresses the traditional timeline for satellite development. Founded in 2021, Muon expects to fly hardware in 2025. Read Muon's press release here: https://lnkd.in/g9ZeRtWU

Investors and fund managers are taking a closer look at the aerospace sector to diversify portfolios of all sizes. Megan Crawford, et al. recently published the latest findings, through SpaceFund Inc. of Texas, that the aerospace sector is not strongly corelated to the performance of any other industry or market sector. The success and gains we see in aerospace are not predicted to decline if any other sector struggles. The fascinating, scholarly review of the aerospace market is summarized in SpaceFund's publication here: https://lnkd.in/gn4A7tm8

Innovators see opportunity everywhere. Congrats to Armada (www.armada.ai) and their recent $40MM add-on raise from Microsoft on top of the $100MM in funding raised so far. Armada continues developing SpaceX Starlink optimized connectivity systems that bring out the best capabilities of Starlink for specialized computing from mobile facilities.

Cheering for Second Star as it prepares to enter the Mandala Space Ventures accelerator program this Fall. What a great technology. Check out their thrusters for satellite platforms: https://lnkd.in/ghngQV-Y

Aerospace startup companies need more than funding and mentorship. They need opportunities to develop cutting-edge technology for a known customer. SpaceWERX is a great example of an opportunity pipeline. Be sure to check out SpaceWERX and see how its programs link aerospace R&D to industry demand. https://lnkd.in/gC2k2YkP

Great to see small companies and start-ups tackle the problem of orbital debris, or to use a recent SpaceNews.com moniker, "uncooperative space objects." Congrats to Turion Space for securing a new SpaceWERX contract a year after its first satellite deployment. Turion Space raised $6.2M in its seed round in 2021-22. https://lnkd.in/gwEpA6SW

Congrats to Alpine Space Fund! The folks at Alpine recently raised $155MM with additional limited partners joining over the coming weeks. Alpine's focus on EU aerospace companies includes exciting spaceflight technologies. Take a look: https://alpinespace.vc/

"Between 1982 to 2020, the cost of launching spaceships plummeted around 98% thanks to the invention of reusable rockets" says Hou Wey Fook, the Chief Investment Officer of DBS Bank. Fook and DBS recently published the information-rich 56-page analysis of investment opportunities in aerospace. The publication is available here (select "download PDF"): https://lnkd.in/gi5y2sFy