Fundraising in the world of newspace has continued for companies in the USA and China during August.
Xona Space Systems
American newspace company Xona Space Systems (Xona) announced that it had completed a round of fundraising on 3 August. The company raised approximately US$15 million in this round, in addition to the US$10 million it has generated previously. Among the notable investors in this round was Lockheed Martin Ventures, the venture capital portion of the eponymous aerospace manufacturing entity.
Xona intends to develop and launch the “next-generation of GNSS” (Global Navigation Satellite System).
Yunyao Yuhang
Chinese start-up company Yunyao Yuhang, has reportedly completed a “pre-A+” round of financing worth US$14.8 million. This follows on from a previous round which took place in 2021. The apparently private Chinese company intends to develop a satellite constellation for weather forecasting utilizing GNSS-Occultation (GNSS-RO) and GNSS-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) technology. However, instead of launching its own satellites, the company as signed contracts with fellow Chinese operators to carry its payloads on their spacecraft in order to make up its targeted 80-unit fleet.
Outpost Technologies
A second American company, Outpost Technologies Corporation, successfully closed an “oversubscribed” Seed round on 30 August, raising US$7.1 million. Outpost is developing a re-entry technologies to allow the precision return of payloads to Earth. It is hoped that these technologies will be useful for the advancement and promotion of re-usable satellites for future use.
