Astranis announced it has raised $450 million in new capital, bringing the company’s total raised to more than $1.2 billion as it scales to meet increased demand for its spacecraft designed for geostationary orbit (GEO) and other high orbits. The funding includes a new $300 million Series E round co-led by Snowpoint Ventures and Franklin Templeton, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, funds and accounts managed by affiliates of BlackRock, Baillie Gifford, and Fidelity Management & Research Company, as well as BAM Elevate, Nimble Partners and Friends & Family Capital, along with other existing and new investors.
A delayed-draw credit facility by Trinity Capital adds up to $155 million of additional capital to support the addition of new manufacturing capacity and support future growth. Astranis will use the new funding to accelerate satellite production for its commercial customers, and scale up to support major US Government Programs of Record as Space Force expects one of the largest budget increases ever seen by a service branch. The increase to $71.1 billion next year is in direct response to new space threats posed by adversaries China and Russia.
"The world is more contested and volatile than it once was. Sovereign, secure communications infrastructure is more critical than ever," said John Gedmark, CEO and co-founder of Astranis. "We built Astranis to deliver satellites at speed and at scale. This capital accelerates our ability to meet demand from our commercial customer base around the world, and importantly we are now spooling up to support multiple US Government programs of record simultaneously.”
Astranis has been selected for the initial phase for multiple separate US Department of War Programs of Record as a Prime, including Protected Tactical Satcom-Global (PTS-G), Resilient GPS, and Andromeda. The raise comes as dedicated communications infrastructure is increasingly a strategic asset for large enterprises and governments around the world. Astranis is seeing surging demand from customers accelerating their shift away from aging, shared GEO communications satellites toward dedicated satellites and networks they control. Astranis recently announced new satellite projects with customers including Chunghwa Telecom in Taiwan and MB Group in Oman, set to launch later this year.
"GEO is the single most important orbit for national security, and that’s the orbit where we are seeing the largest need for new capability by Space Force. We’re excited to support Astranis as they scale and accelerate delivery for these important US government missions," said Alexander Creasey, General Partner at Snowpoint Ventures.
"Astranis has an incredible track record of having actually flown full-capability satellites in higher orbits in a way that no other company has done. They are uniquely positioned to deliver sovereign, secure communications infrastructure that the world needs. This investment reflects our conviction in both the opportunity and the team," said James Cross, Managing Director at Franklin Templeton. "Astranis’s capacity to design, manufacture, and operate satellites for critical enterprise and national security needs makes them a leader in their field," said Ryan Little, Senior Managing Director at Trinity Capital. “We’re honored to support them as they scale.
Click here to learn more about Astranis Space Technologies' MicroGEO Platforms
