Bloomberg
• Kiel Porter, Sana Pashankar
Sierra Space’s chief financial officer has left the spacecraft maker after about six months in the role, the company said. The departure comes as Sierra Space pursues a long-awaited initial public offering, adding uncertainty around the timing of its planned move to public markets.
Commercial Space
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Sierra Space’s chief financial officer has left the spacecraft maker after about six months in the role, the company said. The departure comes as Sierra Space pursues a long-awaited initial public offering, adding uncertainty around the timing of its planned move to public markets.
Varda Space Industries is currently operating two spacecraft in Earth orbit and plans eight additional missions in the coming year, signaling a rapid expansion of its in-space manufacturing and reentry cadence. The plans put execution, spacecraft availability and recovery operations at the center of the company’s next phase.
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SpaceX is proposing to scale up Starship operations at its Starbase facility in South Texas to 456 launches and landings annually. The plan is under U.S. government review, including a request for FAA approval, and would mark a major increase in the site’s planned flight activity.
Robert Ihnatisin, whose experience is in terrestrial 3D printing, says he was struck by the slow progress of manufacturing in orbit and founded Orbital Matter to address the gap. The article offers no details on the company’s technology, funding or plans, but frames its creation as an attempt to accelerate the sector.
Muhammad Hunain of Melagen Labs says spacecraft are still shielded with aluminum, while rad-hardened electronics remain too expensive to produce at the scale the space economy demands. His comments frame radiation protection and component costs as persistent constraints on scaling spacecraft production.
Balerion has raised more than $200 million for its second fund, exceeding its target. The firm had closed about $90 million as of May, according to Venture Capital Journal; co-founder and General Partner Daniel Kleinmann attributed subsequent momentum to portfolio companies reaching milestones and raising up-rounds that resonated with limited partners.
High activity
SpaceX’s planned acquisition of up to 14 MHz of paired 800-MHz spectrum from Grain Management has sharpened investor focus on its satellite-to-phone ambitions. Piper Sandler downgraded AST SpaceMobile to Neutral and cut its price target to $54 from $98, citing deployment uncertainty in 2026–27; Bernstein also downgraded AT&T over SpaceX competition.
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