Mark Boggett gives an update on the space investment environment in 2026 Photo: Brooke Bryand Creative for Access Intelligence

Seraphim Space CEO Mark Boggett kickstarted SATELLITE 2026 with a keynote that painted an optimistic picture for the space investment environment, calling it a “pivotal time” for the industry. Space is open for business, according to Boggett.

The numbers are really interesting. In the 12 months to the end of December 2025, $12 billion was invested into space tech, up close to 50% compared to the same stage last year, with a different mix of investors getting involved. Boggett said he believes that we are only at the beginning of this upward trend, and that recent investment year surpassed the prior peak of 2021.

2025 saw some meaningful IPOs in the industry. Boggett highlighted, Firefly Aerospace, Karman Holdings, Voyager Technologies. He also highlighted the performance of certain stocks with Planet Labs up 390% AST SpaceMobile up 245% and Rocket Lab up 175% in 2025.

Boggett spoke about how there is now so much interest in investing in space that a new floor has been set for the space market. He made a comparison between the global venture capital (VC) market and the global space VC market.  He said here that space has been outperforming general VC since 2023.

“Space has decoupled from the tech asset class. We are reaching new heights about the amount of money being invested. The dealflow is the same as the previous year, but more money is being invested into those deals.”

What was interesting was the mix of funding between Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C and Series D. In 2025, there were almost equal amounts going between the different funding rounds — a healthy sign for the global space investment ecosystem, according to Boggett.

The Next Space Unicorns

Seraphim Space has backed some of the biggest success stories in satellite recently, such as Iceye and Hawkeye 360. He said Seraphim has invested in nine space unicorns, and he expects there to be more. In terms of companies that may be under the radar that could become the next unicorns, he highlighted two companies – Xona Space Systems and All.Space as two companies that could get to the next level. Xona aims to really transform the global navigation market, and Boggett believes their tech addresses some of the deficiencies in this market. He also believes All.Space with its antenna tech has the capability to transform this market as well.

Impact of a SpaceX IPO

One of things that was interesting about Boggett’s comments was how he believed that space is moving from a venture niche and is becoming a permanent national infrastructure allocation. He spoke of space sitting alongside energy, defense, and digital infrastructure in portfolios.

Naturally, it was hard to talk about finance without mentioning the possibility of a SpaceX IPO this year. Boggett said if this was to take place, it wouldn’t just raise capital, it would define the year.

“This year will be remembered as the year of a SpaceX IPO. SpaceX going public wouldn’t just raise capital, it could reprice the entire ecosystem,” he said.

In terms of what he sees in 2026, he added, “The outlook for 2026, is that M&A and vertical integration will accelerate. I see the IPO window reopening for category leaders only. I think there will also be increased M&A this year.”

Europe’s Major Ramp-Up 

What has becoming clear in recent weeks is that Europe is now acting more urgently when it comes to space and defense. There is now a tacit understanding that Europe needs to build a better space-based competency. European defense organizations now want best-in-class technology. Boggett spoke of how we are now a key period of time in Europe. “There are significant opportunities for new space companies [in Europe],” he said.

The dynamics are changing. Germany is taking a key leadership role in Europe. It will invest hundreds of billions euros in defense and some of this investment will be in space-based capabilities. Germany has managed to get all the industrial companies behind this effort. Germany traditionally has had a strong supply chain in the automotive arena and has been using this to build stronger supply chains in defense. They are leading the way in Europe. Boggett believes Europe is very much on a strong growth track right now.

Sovereign space will be a key talking point at SATELLITE 2026. Boggett highlighted India as an example where Pixxel, a leading new space company in India, won a contract from the Indian government to build an Earth Observation (EO) platform.

Boggett also mentioned briefly Golden Dome type projects and other countries potentially looking at this. “We will see more of this. Other regions will want their own Golden Domes, public/private partnerships. You are starting to see a neo-prime approach developing.”