Less than a month after launching, Denver-based Voyager Space Holdings has made its first local aerospace startup acquisition, as it looks to support growing commercial space companies.
In a release, Voyager announced its intent to acquire Altius Space Machines, a Denver startup specializing in on-orbit assembly and manufacturing, orbital rendezvous, capture robotics, and satellite servicing.
This is Voyager's first acquisition, as the space-focused holding company announced its launch in early October. The company's focus is to support the growth needs of commercial space companies by offering an alternative to traditional private capital, serving instead as a longer-term provider of permanent capital.
Voyager is led by founders and space industry veterans Dylan Taylor and Matthew Kuta, formerly a member of the Goldman Sachs private equity group investment team and a distinguished military officer before that.
Altius founder and CEO Jonathan Goff said Voyager's vision and commitment to providing capital matched up with his own company's needs.
"As an entrepreneur in a leading-edge portion of the space market, it's been challenging to secure the financial resources we've needed to deliver on our vision," Goff said in a statement. "When the Voyager team explained their vision, I knew it was an amazing opportunity to not only accelerate bringing our Bulldog servicing vehicle to market, but also to make a bigger difference in the entrepreneurial space industry."
The satellite servicing startup provides a host of other space services, including active debris removal and spacecraft mechanism servicing.
"We've seen a transition in the last few years where large satellite operators are looking for new ways to maximize the lifespan of their space-based assets. Altius is a market leader, blazing the trail for on-orbit servicing technology in our industry," Kuta said in a statement.
Voyager claims to be the first space-focused holding company in the world and its vision is to enable engineer-led companies to focus more on development of innovative products and services.
