SpaceX

Gilmour Space preps USD500m raise as it targets 2028 US IPO

He's quietly invested in Australia's biggest space tech startups. Now he's moving to launch a $150m fund

Profiles space investor Will Scully-Power, whose Pine Gap firm backs Australian space startups and plans a larger US fund with partners; defence VC Beaten Zone has also wrapped up a $26 million fund.

Topic | Managed funds | Australian Financial Review

An AFR managed-funds topic page: a star small-caps deputy goes solo with a new Sydney firm, Gigacomm buys rival DGtek, Google plans a multibillion-dollar domestic bond, plus fund manager and market stories.

Australian nanomaterial takes first flight as Ablano targets lower-cost reusable spaceflight

Ablano's boron nitride nanomaterial flew on a suborbital rocket and its coated panels were recovered for analysis in Australia; partners Research Sat and Implement Space helped run the test toward commercialising durable components for reusable launch vehicles.

Investment Notes: Outlier Space

Investible's note explains its pre-seed backing of satellite startup Outlier Space alongside GD1 and others, arguing uncrewed return-capable platforms will make off-world manufacturing viable as the ISS retires.

Also Forbes Australia·SmartCompany

Singularity Raises $80 Million Series A At $400 Million Valuation To Deploy Air Defense At Scale

Defense startup Singularity has surfaced from stealth, securing a large Series A co-led by two venture firms to scale production of affordable systems that counter cheap drones, with backing from several established investors.

Australian retail investors can now gain exposure to global private AI companies

Pengana's AI trust is now on the ASX as AIX after a $267 million IPO raise from wholesale investors, opening retail access to private AI companies; GCM Grosvenor manages the portfolio.

Southern Launch lands AU$25M as SpaceX hype lifts space tech

Also Forbes Australia·ABC News Technology

Google Just Raised $85 Billion — The Biggest Stock Sale Ever

Markets newsletter reports Google's equity offering with a completed first tranche, SpaceX and Anthropic IPO filings, xAI's earlier merger into SpaceX, fast-food bankruptcies blamed on GLP-1 drugs, and a live tour wrap-up.

Also The Guardian Australia - Technology

Seven ANZ startups that raised $17 million this week

Weekly roundup of seven Australian and New Zealand startup raises totalling $17 million, including two startups entering Y Combinator, plus a new QuantX Labs board director and SmartrMail's earlier sale to Relay Commerce.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily

Sequoia's new leaders raise about $7 billion for firm's biggest bets

Bloomberg-sourced report says Sequoia's incoming co-leaders have gathered roughly seven billion dollars for a new vehicle backing large, often AI, companies; the piece also covers leadership changes and Wiz's sale to Alphabet.

Investment Notes: Gilmour Space Series E

Blackbird's Rick Baker recounts backing rocket firm Gilmour Space from its 2017 Series A to a newly closed A$217 million Series E at a valuation above US$1 billion.

Also @AuManufacturing·Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing

Crunchbase Predicts: 15 Companies That Could Go Public In 2026 As The IPO Market Gains Momentum

Crunchbase's 2026 forecast lists fifteen late-stage companies it deems probable or very likely IPO candidates, profiling each with past raises, valuations and secondary sales; Australia's Canva makes the list.

In The Space Of Months, AI Funding Boom Adds More Than $500B In Value To Unicorn Board And Reshuffles Top 20

Crunchbase's unicorn tracker analysis finds AI-driven valuations added over half a trillion dollars in months, reshuffling the top twenty and minting eleven new decacorns in H2 2025, including Figure, Kraken, Mistral and Sierra.

Also Crunchbase News·Forbes Australia·Crunchbase News

Clearing launch tower was 'major milestone', hails Gilmour

Gilmour Space's Eris rocket lifted off but exploded seconds later near Bowen; the founder hailed the short flight as a milestone, while its ElaraSat satellite bus flew successfully on a SpaceX rideshare mission.

Maiden rocket launch on Wednesday morning a strong result, says Gilmour Space

Gilmour Space Technologies flew its Eris rocket for the first time, an Australian-designed orbital vehicle; the brief test ended early via anomaly, with learnings feeding a follow-on vehicle now being built.

Gilmour receives fresh $5m federal grant

Gilmour Space Technologies has secured the maximum $5 million grant under the federal Industry Growth Program, money earmarked for its next-generation engine, even though its founder publicly attacked the national space regulator.

Also Startup Daily

DroneShield announces strategic expansion into Latin America

DroneShield plans to expand into Latin America and has appointed Carlos Gutierrez, previously at SES Satellites and Starlink, as regional director to lead the push.

Space Machines Company-led project awarded $8.5 million through International Space Investment India Projects

An Australian satellite servicing firm leads an India-Australia debris management mission backed by an $8.5 million government grant; two other companies also won awards under the bilateral space program.

Also Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing·Defence Connect·@AuManufacturing

Valiant Space in-orbit propulsion system launched

Valiant Space's VS-1 thruster has reached orbit aboard Space Machines Company's Optimus servicing vehicle after flying on a Falcon 9, with its development backed by an Australian Space Agency grant programme.

Space Machines' Optimus satellite launched on SpaceX rocket

Space Machines Company says its Optimus orbital servicing vehicle, described as Australia's largest private satellite, lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, with Australian firms and research partners among those involved in the mission.

Australian space startup Esper wants to build hyperspectral sats for cheap

TechCrunch profile of Esper, an Australian startup preparing low-cost hyperspectral satellites, recalling its $1 million pre-seed close, grants from a foundation and the federal government, and a Techstars accelerator stint.

Mike Cannon-Brookes names former Macquarie banker Tan Kueh as Grok's CEO

Mike Cannon-Brookes' investment vehicle Grok Ventures has hired Tan Kueh, ex-Macquarie, UBS and BlackRock, as CEO, joining CIO Jeremy Kwong-Law, as it sharpens its strategy around climate investing.

The Week in AgriFoodTech: Agrotoken closes Series A, John Deere & SpaceX team up, MaxAB merges with Wasoko

Weekly agrifoodtech roundup covering Agrotoken's Series A, raises by Mediterranean Food Lab, Better Juice, Burro, SeeTree and farm-ng, the MaxAB–Wasoko merger, v2food's brand acquisition, a Flashfood CEO change, and Drizly's shutdown.

Advanced Navigation to manufacture photonic chip

Advanced Navigation received a $306,631 grant from the Australian Department of Defence's Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority program to develop local photonic chip manufacturing; its Boreas X90 will fly on a Space Machines orbital vehicle.

Also Defence Connect·@AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing

Melbourne Uni’s SpIRIT blasts off

The University of Melbourne's SpIRIT gamma-ray nanosatellite has launched, with Australian Space Agency grants of nearly $7 million supporting the project alongside Italian and local industry partners.

Cybersecurity Sector Leads For New Unicorns In October, With Zero From Silicon Valley

Crunchbase's October 2023 unicorn board update: nine newcomers led by two cybersecurity firms, with Sydney's Employment Hero reaching unicorn status, Shield AI revalued upward, and Convoy and Olive AI shutting down.

Also Crunchbase News

World-first non-Earth imaging camera “manufactured entirely in Australia” gets launched

HEO Robotics' Holmes Imager, described as the first commercial camera for non-Earth imaging built entirely in Australia, launched on a SpaceX rocket, with several local manufacturing and research partners credited.

Manufacturing news briefs — stories you might have missed

Roundup of Australian manufacturing news: a university metaverse partnership, a CSIRO digital appointment, electric buses in Queensland, two secured funding facilities, and several workforce and recycling initiatives.

Also @AuManufacturing

Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

Roundup of manufacturing items: a satellite launch plan, a biotech tax incentive payment, a boot range launch, a solar CEO's exit, a ferry study, a university battery hub, and a recycling trial.

Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

Roundup of manufacturing items: a ventilation grant program reopens, MGC Pharma reports Long Covid trial results, CSIRO and CSCRC projects win iAwards, Spiral Blue completes satellite integration, and AML3D raises capital.

Also 3dprint.com

Valiant Space to ready for market entry

Valiant Space receives a government grant under the Moon to Mars Initiative to scale and flight-test its non-toxic thruster, with orbital demonstrations planned aboard SpaceX missions ahead of a 2023 market entry.

Elon Musk to buy Twitter: Will the trolling stop?

Twitter's board has approved Elon Musk's multi-billion-dollar takeover offer, prompting the author to ask whether the platform's harassment and safety problems will improve or worsen for women under its new owner.

The scoundrels and stars of Adam Schwab's 2021 Business Awards

Satirical awards column recalling 2021 business failures and wins: Hosking's Redbubble share sale, Greensill's collapse, GetSwift's downfall, Better.com's layoffs and funding, Moviepass's sale, and Digital World's Trump SPAC deal.

2021 additive manufacturing Aussie highlights

Year-end review of Australian additive manufacturing in 2021: MMI grants for Romar, Titomic and SPEE3D, Titomic's raises and acquisitions, Conflux's Series A, Aurora Labs' capital raise and leadership changes, and AML3D's listing anniversary.

Also @AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing

SkyKraft attracts top investors to capital raising

Also @AuManufacturing

Non-alcoholic spirits startup Lyre’s hits $500 million valuation on $37 million raise

Non-alcoholic spirits maker Lyre's raised $37 million led by D Squared Capital at a $500 million valuation, with earlier backers joining; funds go mainly to marketing and more than 50 new jobs.

Also Startup Daily

Mike & Annie Cannon-Brookes just turned Grok Ventures into Australia's first $1 billion VC fund to invest in climate tech

Startup Daily reports the Atlassian co-founder and his wife have pledged a billion dollars via their family firm Grok Ventures to climate-focused startups, plus half a billion to philanthropy.

Adelaide nano-satellite startup Myriota lands $5.5 million government defence contract

Satellite IoT firm Myriota won a $5.48 million Australian government Defence contract via the Defence Innovation Hub, weeks after a Spire Global partnership and an insurance-sector investment from IAG's venture arm.

Also @AuManufacturing·The Mandarin·@AuManufacturing

Skykraft to launch 300kg satellite on SpaceX mission

Canberra space firm Skykraft, a UNSW Canberra spin-off, plans a 300kg satellite launch aboard SpaceX's Transporter-5 rideshare toward a 210-satellite air traffic constellation, and recently won a $1m ACT government grant.

Also Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing