Jakarta, IDN Times – Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX acquires startup (startup) satellite data from the United States (US) Swarm Technologies last July.
SpaceX’s rare acquisition deal was only revealed in the company’s filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on August 6, reports CNBC, Monday (9/8/2021).
“The (Swarm) Company will become a wholly owned subsidiary of SpaceX upon completion of the Proposed Transaction,” Swarm wrote in its filing.
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1. Agreement reached in July
Swarm, which has 120 small SpaceBEE satellites in orbit, reached an agreement to merge with SpaceX on July 16, according to a filing with the Federal Communications Commission.
The terms and financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Swarm last completed its fundraising round in January 2019 with a valuation of $85 million, according to Pitchbook.
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2. Rare acquisition
SpaceX Rocket. (pexels.com/SpaceX)–
The deal is an unusual acquisition for SpaceX, which tends to design and build systems in-house. According to the filing, Swarm will transfer control of its satellite and ground station licenses to SpaceX as part of the deal. However, a license from the FCC is likely to be difficult to achieve and time-consuming to approve.
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“Swarm services will benefit from better capitalization and access to resources available to SpaceX, as well as synergies associated with acquisitions by providers of satellite design, manufacturing, and launch services,” the filing said.
The company says that this acquisition benefits SpaceX because it opens up access to the intellectual property and expertise developed by the Swarm team.
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3. Swarm IoT Technology
Illustration of a space rocket launch site. (pexels.com/SpaceX)–
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Mountain View, California, Swarm has built a constellation of 150 satellites. Its SpaceBEE is the smallest commercial operational satellite in space, the company said.
The satellite measures 11 centimeters by 11 centimeters by 2.8 centimeters, or the size of a small notebook.
Swarm satellites communicate with their antennae on the ground, with Swarm “Tiles” that can be embedded into circuit boards, to connect Internet of Things (IoT) devices to a global communications network. One Tile Swarm is $119, and the larger standalone Eval Kit is $499, with the company charging a subscription fee of $5 per month to use its network.
The company offers services for a wide range of IoT uses, including the agricultural, maritime, energy, environmental and transportation sectors.
Swarm came under FCC surveillance in 2018 after carrying out the unauthorized launch of its first four SpaceBEE satellites. The FCC later ended its investigation into Swarm after the company agreed to pay a $900,000 fine and implement a five-year regulatory compliance plan.
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