Arthur McMiler
Lockheed Martin Ventures, Kindred Ventures and Y Combinator participated in the Series A funding round of Inversion Space, during which the space-based logistics startup raised $44 million. The investment round was co-led by Spark Capital and Adjacent and follows a seed round that raised $10 million, bringing to $54 million the total funding raised, Inversion said Thursday.
The Los Angeles-based company will use the funds to build its autonomous re-entry vehicle called Arc designed to store cargo in orbit for on-demand delivery to any destination on Earth.
Cargo Delivery Transformation Potential
Chris Moran, Lockheed Martin Ventures vice president and general manager, conveyed the company’s excitement in supporting the development of Inversion’s autonomous spacecraft technology, citing its “potential to revolutionize” the delivery of goods globally.
Justin Fiaschetti, Inversion co-founder and CEO, said the company is introducing cargo delivery as a “third pillar” in the space-based toolkit after global internet connection and Earth observation. “We have proven our capabilities, and our Series A funding will help us iterate, scale and build our next generation of autonomous re-entry vehicles,” he added.
Complementary Space Logistics Efforts
In addition to the seed round, Inversion recently received a $71 million award from SpaceWERX for the testing and refinement of the company’s space-based, on-demand logistics capability.
The Federal Aviation Administration has also approved the launch of Inversion’s Ray re-entry vehicle and its return to Earth. The spacecraft will be launched as part of SpaceX’s forthcoming Falcon 9 Transporter-12 Rideshare mission.
XArc, a San Antonio, Texas-based interplanetary architecture design firm, is another company with interest in space logistics through a partnership with SpaceX and the U.S. Transportation Command, which gained KBR support in January 2021.
