MW Space industry IPOs ramp up as sector shapes up for a busy 2025
By James Rogers
Fortuna Investments CEO Justus Parmar expects to see "a new vintage of space companies that hit the market" in 2025
The space industry is firmly in the spotlight at the moment thanks to President Trump's space ambitions and a busy 2025 schedule for Elon Musk's SpaceX and a host of other space companies.
Space stocks skyrocketed this week after Trump vowed to "pursue our manifest destiny into the stars" and launch American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on Mars during his inauguration speech.
Private space companies entering the public markets look set to be a feature of this year, according to Fortuna Investments CEO Justus Parmar, whose venture-capital firm is an investor in SpaceX and other space companies. "I think in the back half of the year there will be a new vintage of space companies that hit the market," he told MarketWatch, during an interview earlier this month, noting that the broader climate for space IPOs is improving. "That wasn't even an option for the last two years," he added.
Parmar, who describes himself as a long-term, bullish, space investor, declined to name potential IPO candidates.
Related: Space stocks skyrocket after Trump vows to 'pursue our manifest destiny into the stars'
However, this week has seen a flurry of activity. On Monday Voyager Technologies announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration on Form S-1 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission related to a proposed IPO. "The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined," the company said, in a press release.
Voyager Technologies is a defense and space technology company. Earlier this month the company changed its name from Voyager Space, in a move designed to highlight its "capabilities and position across broad technology markets."
Last year the company was selected by Lockheed Martin Corp. $(LMT)$ to support an advanced solid-propulsion subsystem for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Next Generation Interceptor, which is designed to protect the American homeland against missile threats. Voyager Technologies has also announced a partnership with Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) to integrate the artificial-intelligence darling's AI tools into its technology.
The Denver-based company is also a partner in Starlab Space, a U.S.-led joint venture to develop a commercial space station. Other joint venture partners are Airbus (FR:AIR), Mitsubishi Corp. (JP:8058) and MDA Space Ltd. (CA:MDA).
Related: Trump's space ambitions ignite a rally in these stocks - an analyst sees more gains ahead
Citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reports that Voyager Technologies' IPO is expected to be valued between $2 billion and $3 billion and could happen later this year. Voyager Technologies declined to provide further comment beyond Monday's press release when contacted by MarketWatch.
Also Monday Karman Holdings Inc. filed an S-1 with the SEC for a proposed IPO. Karman intends to list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol 'KRMN' according to the S-1, which was filed under TCFIII Spaceco Holdings.
Citigroup (C) and Evercore ISI are acting as book-running managers for the proposed IPO and as representatives of the underwriters. RBC Capital Markets and William Blair are acting as joint bookrunners, and Baird is acting as co-manager for the proposed offering.
"The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined," said Karman, in a press release Monday.
Related: These are the space stocks to watch in 2025
Karman, which operates as Karman Space & Defense, is headquartered in Huntington Beach, Calif. with multiple facilities across the U.S. The company's technologies encompass payload and protection systems, aerodynamic interstage systems, and propulsion and launch systems.
Another private space company that has been linked with a possible public markets move in recent years is Sierra Space. In April 2024 Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice told Yahoo Finance that the company will be looking at the public markets over the next 12 to 18 months. "We'll make a decision on what the right timing for us is," he said.
A spokesperson for Sierra Space told MarketWatch that the company has "nothing new or imminent to report at the present time on this."
Sierra Space, which was spunoff from private defense company Sierra Nevada Corporation in 2021, is working on a slew of commercial and government space projects. These include a GPS satellite technology project with the U.S. Space Force, a partnership with Nvidia Corp. $(NVDA)$ to predict the location of orbital debris, and work with NASA on trash compaction and processing aboard the International Space Station.
Related: SpaceX's Starship blew up. Elon Musk says it's 'barely a bump in the road.'
Sierra Space is also developing the Dream Chaser commercial space plane, which has been selected by NASA to provide cargo delivery, return and disposal service for the International Space Station under its Commercial Resupply Service 2 (CRS-2) contract.
The Louisville, Colo.-based company is also the principal partner, along with Blue Origin, in a project to develop Orbital Reef, a commercially owned and operated space station.
The success of the likes of Rocket Lab USA Inc. $(RKLB)$ and Intuitive Machines Inc. (LUNR) may be helping create a better environment for space industry IPOS. Space launch company Rocket Lab, which has been one of the sector's recent stars, went public in 2021 through a merger with the special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, Vector Acquisition Corp. Rocket Lab shares have climbed 549% in the last 12 months.
Intuitive Machines, which made history last year when its Odysseus lander became the first commercial lander to successfully land on the moon's surface, went public in 2023 through a merger with SPAC Inflection Point Acquisition. The company's stock has skyrocketed 817.1% in the last 12 months.
-James Rogers
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January 24, 2025 10:39 ET (15:39 GMT)
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