Global private equity investments in the commercial space launch and travel industry have fallen by nearly half year over year.
Including venture capital-backed funding rounds, private equity investment in that sector stood at $1.96 billion year-to-date through Dec. 6, down about 49% from the 2021 total, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
Transaction volume is also down sharply, as there have been just 17 major investments thus far in 2022, compared to 36 in full year 2021.
Thus far, the fourth quarter has seen the lowest transaction value in the sector in almost two years, with three announced deals totaling $20 million through Dec. 6. There were five private equity investments involving commercial space launch and travel companies in the third quarter, worth a combined $80 million.
There were nine transactions in the fourth quarter of 2021, totaling $1.63 billion.
Top transactions
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the spacecraft company founded by Elon Musk, raised the biggest private equity funding in 2022 when it received roughly $1.73 billion in a funding round that closed June 30. The deal, with participation from Angel Box Co. Ltd., is the only deal so far this year that has topped $1 billion.
SpaceX completed two other funding rounds this year. It received funding from Japan's New Japan Asset Management Co. Ltd. in July and raised roughly $250 million in an August transaction that included participation from five undisclosed investors, according to Market Intelligence data.
The second-largest private equity transaction with disclosed investors so far in 2022 was the $60 million series B fundraising of CesiumAstro Inc., a Texas-based manufacturer of integrated communication systems for satellites, launch vehicles and other space or airborne platforms. Investors in the round included Airbus SE venture arm Airbus Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Lavrock Ventures LLC. The transaction closed in March.
Aerospace fundraising
There are only 16 private equity funds in the market that solely target aerospace, which consists of companies that manufacture, test and distribute aircraft, missiles, space vehicles, and related parts and equipment, according to Preqin Inc. The funds aim to raise at least $2.23 billion in total.
Ace Aero Partenaires, managed by Tikehau Capital's Ace Capital Partners, is to raise the biggest aerospace-dedicated fund, with a $1.12 billion target.
The next-largest funds are Gigafund's Gigafund 0.14 LP and AE Industrial Partners LP's AE Industrial Partners Aerospace Opportunities Fund, which have respective fundraising targets of $513 million and $400 million.
Gigafund 0.14 raised $478 million in its first close in June 2021, according to Market Intelligence data.