Axiom Space Closes $350 Million Series C Amid Space Station, Moon Activity
Axiom Space is looking to build momentum for its human spaceflight program, and it just received a big boost in the form of a $350 million Series C round of funding, the company announced last week. Saudi Arabia-based Aljazira Capital (a closed-stock company operated by a Saudi Arabian bank) and Korean pharmaceutical company Boryung Co., Ltd. co-led the fundraising.
Axiom is the only company so far authorized to bring private astronaut missions to the International Space Station (ISS). Axiom’s second space mission, Ax-2, wrapped up earlier this year with former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson at the helm.
Its debut mission, known as Ax-1, ran in 2022, and the company has more missions planned soon. Additionally, Axiom plans to build a module on the ISS that will be developed into a space station that will fly on its own after the ISS retires, projected to happen no sooner than 2030.
While Axiom makes money by charging private astronauts on board these missions for their seats, the company is looking to diversify its revenue sources in order to build out its space station and to conduct commercial activities in orbit. The fundraising will help boost such efforts, company officials said in the announcement, as the company moves into its newer phase of getting ready for its first module.
“Axiom Station’s first module is under construction and is scheduled to launch to the ISS by 2026,” officials said in the news release. “Additional modules will follow to build out Axiom Station, which will be ready to separate from the ISS and operate independently in support of customers around the world, by 2031 when NASA plans to retire the ISS.”
New and returning partners
It’s no surprise that Saudi Arabia has an interest in Axiom Space — the country has already invested in Virgin Galactic, and there have been rumors of investments in SpaceX as well. The country has a Saudi Space Commission that seeks opportunities for investment, and in 2020 it was reported to have allocated $2.1 billion for its space program, all as part of a long-term strategy to become less dependent on the oil industry.
As for Boryung, it’s already a partner of Axiom Space, which in May announced a “Humans In Space” program co-hosted by Boryung, Axiom, and an MIT non-profit spinoff known as the Aurelia Institute.
“The Humans In Space Challenge is a global competition for researchers and innovators from relevant fields,” reads a press release from May. “Based on the three carefully selected themes – ‘Human Healthcare,’ ‘Human Lifestyle’ and ‘Human Place’ – participants will identify various challenges faced by humanity in space and propose solutions to address them.” Applications for the program closed on July 28 and a virtual pitch event with the semi-finalists will be held in early September.
Axiom is also expanding its presence further afield. The company has been tasked with providing space suits for the Artemis program, which aims to land Artemis 3 on the surface of the Moon in 2025 or 2026. The timeline of the mission will depend on the spacesuit development, as well as the readiness of the landing system being developed by SpaceX. Axiom’s contract is valued at $1.26 billion depending on performance; guaranteed payments will start at $370 million, increasing with each new task order received, the company said in its release.
Funding for space takes deep pockets and often years or decades of patience. The private venture path is one way to assure investment for at least some time, providing that the market conditions are favorable and that the companies involved continue to perform or outperform expectations.
It appears that Axiom is doing well in meeting its goals, given that it has already sent two missions to the ISS in recent years and is expected to keep on going, considering recent NASA releases and its lucrative Artemis contract. Axiom’s next challenge will be to leverage that momentum for building out its space station and providing more opportunities to raise revenue from private astronauts, commercially-driven experiments, and other items in orbit.
