Private American aerospace manufacturer and launch service provider, with a New Zealand subsidiary.
Blue Origin has opened talks to raise $10 billion at a $130 billion pre-money valuation, marking the firm's first major external fundraising since its 2000 founding. Coatue Management is expected to lead with a multibillion-dollar commitment; Jeff Bezos is set to add several billion. The move follows May's New Glenn explosion and ongoing recovery work.
A wave of space-based data-center startups and defense-aligned ventures are racing to deploy orbital computing. Companies plan test satellites, funding rounds, and government programs to scale AI workloads in orbit, while observers caution about the cost, heat management, and regulatory hurdles.
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has begun the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, a 10-year program that will image the southern sky every few nights. The telescope has started regular operations from its Chilean mountaintop site and is already returning new detections, including thousands of asteroids and transient views such as Comet 3I/ATLAS.
Rocket Lab has announced plans to acquire Iridium in an $8 billion deal, aiming to merge launch, manufacturing and a global satellite network to broaden its space-services footprint. The transaction values Iridium at $54 per share and signals ongoing consolidation in the satellite industry as SpaceX broadens its own services.
AI stocks have become a driving force in Wall Street and are increasingly part of Australian superannuation portfolios. The six tech giants known as the “magnificent seven” now comprise a notable exposure within many balanced funds, with SpaceX exposure noted alongside Nvidia, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta. Morningstar suggests the impact on Australian portfolios remains modest, even after SpaceX’s public debut.