Private equity firm EQT is acquiring rideshare provider Exolaunch, marking EQT’s first investment in the space sector. Stockholm-based EQT announced the acquisition on June 18, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Exolaunch, based in Germany, is the most active rideshare aggregator in the space industry and the company has deployed more than 790 satellites across 47 missions, supporting more than 200 commercial and government customers. It manages the launch process for customers, integrating and aggregating satellites into missions. Exolaunch builds separation systems for cubesats and microsatellites that deploy satellites during rideshare missions.
The company works with multiple launchers, but it’s the most prolific rideshare provider for SpaceX’s rideshare missions. Exolaunch said it has participated in every Falcon 9 Transporter and Bandwagon rideshare mission. The company recently purchased two dedicated Falcon 9 missions, expanding the ways it facilitates rideshare.
EQT said plans to invest in international expansion for Exolaunch, as well as product innovation and new service offerings across the satellite mission lifecycle. It plans to invest in supporting rideshare for emerging launch providers as well.
EQT Partner Nils Ketter said the company sees potential for expanding use cases in connectivity, Earth Observation, and orbital compute.
“Exolaunch developed mission-critical deployment technologies and built a full end-to-end service offering around it. The company solves critical pain points for satellite customers and launch vehicle providers alike,” Ketter said. “We look forward to supporting Exolaunch’s management working with customers and partners to expand access to space.”
EQT has 269 billion euro in total assets under management and its typical investments range between 200 million euro and 1.6 billion euro. It makes control and co-control equity investments in mid-to-large sized companies.
