Axiom Space invites Koreans to $500 million space hotel fundraising

Axiom Space Inc., which is developing the world’s first commercial space station, is seeking to raise $500 million from South Korean investors for its project to attach privately developed habitat modules to the International Space Station (ISS).

Axiom has hired Striker Capital Management Co., a Korean private equity firm (PEF), as the manager of the fund, which is part of the Houston-based aerospace company’s $1 billion Series C funding round, according to investment banking sources on Monday.

Hanwha Group, which owns Korea’s only aerospace engine producer Hanwha Aerospace Co., and Korean Air Lines Co. are among Korean companies that have shown interest in the project, the sources said.

Striker Capital plans to expand its pool of investors to include department store and hotel operators, which have billionaire clients interested in space travel and staying in space hotels, they said.

“For Korean investors, it will mark their first-ever real estate investment in space,” said one of the people.

Striker Capital is sending around an investment proposal letter to potential investors via a local accounting firm with an aim to complete the $500 million funding by August, the sources said.

The PE firm, which specializes in multiple asset classes, including growth capital, corporate buyouts, real estate and infrastructure, estimates Axiom’s enterprise value as an investment target at $2 billion, they said.

According to the people, striker Capital is managing the Korean funding round as its Chief Executive Rhee Tae-kyoung is an acquaintance of Axiom Space founders and other executives.

SPACE STATION MODULES

In January 2020, NASA selected Axiom to begin attaching its own space station modules to the International Space Station as early as 2024, making the company a primary driver of NASA’s broad strategy to commercialize low-earth orbit development projects.

The new funding will accelerate the construction of Axiom’s privately developed space station, which the US company said will serve as the central pillar of a thriving network of commerce in Earth’s orbit.

US investment banks such as the Bank of America and Morgan Stanley forecast the space economy to grow to more than $1 trillion over the next few decades.

Axiom said it will be ready to detach its habitat modules from the ISS by late 2028 when the space station is decommissioned to independently operate its own space station.

The company has also partnered with SpaceX, the aerospace company headed by Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk, to send its private astronauts and civilians to the ISS on private flights.

Axiom Space was founded in Houston in 2016 by space entrepreneur Kam Ghaffarian and Michael Suffredini – NASA's ISS program manager from 2005 to 2015 – to build the world's first commercial space station and develop commercial space infrastructure.

Write to Dong-Hui Park at donghuip@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.