Space Technology Investments Clear the Launch Tower in 2025
Tom Cowan
Investments in space technology are off to a strong start in the first half of 2025. The rising trend over the last four years, as mentioned in a previous Knobbe Martens Aerospace Blog post, appears to be continuing. The quantity of deals in space technology has “more than doubled in the past four years,” per Reuters. While the number of deals in 2025 may not exceed that of 2024, total deal value this year may surpass last year’s total of $6.6 billion.
Proposed Budget Cuts for U.S. Government Satellite Monitoring Could Lead to Market and IP Opportunities
Sameer Khan
In July 2025, the U.S. federal government proposed an 84% reduction in funding to the Office of Space Commerce. Some say the move would effectively terminate the agency’s further development of the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS). The proposed budget may therefore halt government efforts to implement TraCSS, which is a civilian-led platform (as opposed to military-led) for monitoring satellite activity and mitigating the risk of orbital collisions. The system provides basic space situational awareness (SSA) data and space traffic coordination (STC) services to a handful of commercial operators. A preliminary version of the TraCSS system is provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Program to Accelerate the Future of Aerospace and Defense Innovation for Startups
Matthew S. Whitehead
On July 16, 2025, PTC, Inc. (“PTC”) announced an “Aerospace & Defense (A&D) Startup Program” (“the Program”) for accelerating the future of aerospace and defense innovation.
PTC offers software products for application lifecycle management, augmented reality, computer-aided design (CAD), industrial internet of things, industrial connectivity, product lifecycle management, mathematical workflows, and service lifestyle management.
It is reported that David Katzman, General Manager of Arena and Onshape at PTC, stated that “[a]erospace and defense startups are tackling some of the world’s toughest engineering challenges, and they need tools that help them get ahead.”
Horizon Aircraft and ZeroAvia Partner to Explore Hydrogen-Electric Powertrain for eVTOLs
Harper L. Beasley
Horizon Aircraft and ZeroAvia announced this week plans to explore using ZeroAvia’s ZA600 hydrogen-electric powertrain in Horizon Aircraft’s Cavorite X7 vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. According to ZeroAvia’s press release, the companies plan to focus the partnership on the regional air mobility market. Horizon has performed untethered flight tests of a large-scale prototype of its fan-in-wing designed aircraft which is designed for vertical takeoff, wing-borne flight, and runway or helipad landings. ZeroAvia has performed flight demonstrations of their hydrogen-electric powertrains. The press release states that the partnership hopes to develop a solution for clean, fast, and efficient air travel.
Subscribe for News and Updates