Exos Aerospace — Developing reusable launch vehicles

Exos Aerospace — Developing reusable launch vehicles

Founded in Texas in 2014, Exos Aerospace is a private company that is rapidly developing into a highly capable launch services provider. It is building on its current suborbital plans to enable the deployment of payloads into low Earth orbit (LEO) in the next three years. This should allow the company to become a cost-effective launch partner for smaller payloads, as well as a transportation and logistics supplier for future space manufacturing and research projects.

Andy Chambers

Written by

Andy Chambers

Director, Industrials

Exos Aerospace

Developing reusable launch vehicles

SpaceTech – launch services

QuickView

26 April 2022

Price

N/A

Market cap

N/A

Funding rounds 1–9, 2014 to 2022

Note: Round 9 is in progress

Share details

Code

N/A

Listing

Unlisted

Shares in issue

11.5m

Business description

Exos Aerospace, based in Greenville, Texas, designs, manufactures and flies reusable launch vehicles. It is one of only three companies in the world that has successfully launched the same reusable rocket four times, and which has a Federal Aviation Administration AST reusable launch vehicle licence.

Bull

Low-cost accredited provider of reusable vehicle launch services with rapid turnaround and low refurbishment expense.

Strong and growing demand for environmentally friendly reusable low-cost launch systems.

Air launch model to reduce costs of deployment.

Bear

Currently niche suborbital transport capability.

Test flight failures on SARGE 1 delaying programme development.

Highly competitive launch and transportation vehicle market with SpaceX driving down costs.

Analyst

Andy Chambers

+44 (0)20 3077 5700

Founded in Texas in 2014, Exos Aerospace is a private company that is rapidly developing into a highly capable launch services provider. It is building on its current suborbital plans to enable the deployment of payloads into low Earth orbit (LEO) in the next three years. This should allow the company to become a cost-effective launch partner for smaller payloads, as well as a transportation and logistics supplier for future space manufacturing and research projects.

Developing low-cost reusable space transport

Exos Aerospace’s ambition is to build and fly LEO capable reusable rockets while enabling other innovations in world-leading technologies in sectors such as healthcare. While working with both governmental and commercial customers, Exos is driving down the cost to deploy payloads to levels that provide access even to high school science departments. The company integrates proven technologies, many developed by NASA using a design, build, test, iterate (DBTI) philosophy, which provides excellence in prototype systems development. To date, the company has designed and developed hundreds of rocket engines and dozens of launch vehicles, both Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles (sRLVs) and vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL). In addition, Exos has integrated reliable propulsion systems into crewed rocket-powered aircraft and successfully demonstrated hundreds of inflight relights.

Flight test programme key to progress

Following four flight tests of its SARGE Mk1 (Suborbital Autonomous Rocket with GuidancE) sRLV, which suffered various setbacks, the company is building a second system (SARGE Mk2) for test flight. In February 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a revision to Exos’s Commercial Space Transportation License, extending for two years its permit to carry out pre-flight ground operations and sRLV missions from Spaceport America. While no date is available for Sarge 2’s initial qualification test flight, success should allow it to apply for an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract as a flight services provider under NASA’s $25m pa Research, Development, Demonstration, and Infusion programme. Meanwhile, the company is developing its Jaguar two-stage vehicle programme for orbital payloads up to around 200kg with a reusable first stage.

Preparing the organisation for growth

Exos Aerospace plans to move its Greenville-based operations to McKinney, Texas as it seeks to enter the commercial orbital market, employing several hundred more staff. It has also formed a National Charter Enterprise in Italy, Exos Aerospace Italia, to develop systems and missions compliant with International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

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Frankfurt +49 (0)69 78 8076 960

Schumannstrasse 34b

60325 Frankfurt

Germany

London +44 (0)20 3077 5700

280 High Holborn

London, WC1V 7EE

United Kingdom

New York +1 646 653 7026

1185 Avenue of the Americas

3rd Floor, New York, NY 10036

United States of America

Sydney +61 (0)2 8249 8342

Level 4, Office 1205

95 Pitt Street, Sydney

NSW 2000, Australia

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This report has been prepared and issued by Edison. Edison Investment Research standard fees are £60,000 pa for the production and broad dissemination of a detailed note (Outlook) following by regular (typically quarterly) update notes. Fees are paid upfront in cash without recourse. Edison may seek additional fees for the provision of roadshows and related IR services for the client but does not get remunerated for any investment banking services. We never take payment in stock, options or warrants for any of our services.

Accuracy of content: All information used in the publication of this report has been compiled from publicly available sources that are believed to be reliable, however we do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this report and have not sought for this information to be independently verified. Opinions contained in this report represent those of the research department of Edison at the time of publication. Forward-looking information or statements in this report contain information that is based on assumptions, forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable, and therefore involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of their subject matter to be materially different from current expectations.

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Frankfurt +49 (0)69 78 8076 960

Schumannstrasse 34b

60325 Frankfurt

Germany

London +44 (0)20 3077 5700

280 High Holborn

London, WC1V 7EE

United Kingdom

New York +1 646 653 7026

1185 Avenue of the Americas

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United States of America

Sydney +61 (0)2 8249 8342

Level 4, Office 1205

95 Pitt Street, Sydney

NSW 2000, Australia

Frankfurt +49 (0)69 78 8076 960

Schumannstrasse 34b

60325 Frankfurt

Germany

London +44 (0)20 3077 5700

280 High Holborn

London, WC1V 7EE

United Kingdom

New York +1 646 653 7026

1185 Avenue of the Americas

3rd Floor, New York, NY 10036

United States of America

Sydney +61 (0)2 8249 8342

Level 4, Office 1205

95 Pitt Street, Sydney

NSW 2000, Australia

Research: Healthcare

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