Satellogic Stock: Turning Earth into Google Maps

While special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) in their current form have been around since the 1990s, these shell corporations that acquire and merge with private companies have surged in popularity in the last couple of years. There have been more than 600 SPAC filings and about $170 billion raised since last year, according to the big brains at data research firm CB Insights. If you could point to one single company that helped launch the current SPAC mania craze, it would probably be Virgin Galactic (SPCE), which became the world’s first space tourism stock at the end of 2019. Since then, SPAC mergers have climbed dramatically. 

The NewSpace industry has been a favored target for SPACs, given the high-risk nature of the business. At least a dozen space companies have now merged with or announced intentions to go public through a SPAC, with a combined value on paper of more than $27 billion.