Axiom Space raises $350 mln in round led by Saudi, Korean investors

Boryung

21/08/2023 17:44

Aug 21 (Reuters) - Axiom Space has raised $350 million
in a funding round led by Saudi Arabia's Aljazira Capital and
Korean healthcare firm Boryung as the startup works with NASA to
develop a private space station.
    The company declined to disclose its valuation on Monday.
Axiom said the round took its total raise so far to $505 million
and made it the space startup to receive the second-most funding
in 2023, only behind Elon Musk's SpaceX.
    The move comes at a time when hopes have risen of a thaw in
the funding winter for space startups, after investments in the
sector stayed flat in the second quarter after more than halving
in the first three months of the year.
    Axiom, which also has a $1.26 billion contract with the U.S.
space agency NASA to develop spacesuits for use on the moon and
other space programs, expects the first module of its private
space station to launch by 2026.
    The company has also trained astronauts taken by SpaceX
rockets to the International Space Station (ISS) as the once
government-dominated space industry in the United States becomes
increasingly privatized. It said it has achieved more than $2.2
billion in customer contracts.

 (Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh
Kuber)
 ((ArsheeyaSingh.Bajwa@thomsonreuters.com; +91 8510015800;))