Astronomy Prints 🌌: Editor's Choice: Aalyria becomes a space unicorn

02/25/2026

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By Mike Gruss

Aalyria announced a $100 million funding round Feb. 23, one that values the California venture at $1.3 billion, earning the label as the latest space unicorn.

Unicorns, in investment parlance, are generally thought of as privately held companies whose valuation tops $1 billion.

Aalyria was spun out of Google's parent Alphabet four years ago. The funding supports deployment of laser terminals and software for dynamically routing data across space, air and ground networks.

But the milestone valuation got me thinking about other space unicorns. Of course, the unicorn with the highest valuation right now is SpaceX and it's been that way for a while. Until there's an initial public offering, thought to be this summer, SpaceX will likely stay atop the list.

Many of the other billion-dollar firms have been busy in recent months.

SpaceX, thought to be valued at about $8 billion, acquired xAI, an artificial intelligence company also run by Elon Musk.
Axiom Space raised an additional $350 million to advance development of a commercial space station and new spacesuits. The company is thought to be valued at $3 billion.
Satellite manufacturer K2 Space, also thought to be worth about $3 billion, announced in December it raised $250 million.
Stoke Space has raised an additional $350 million to advance work on its reusable launch vehicle and future projects.

Other space unicorns, uh, galloping along include Sierra Space ($5B), ABL Space Systems ($2B+), Apex ($1B+), and Astranis ($1B) as well as at least a half dozen Chinese firms.

I asked SpaceNews' Jason Rainbow for his thoughts on the busy unicorn scene and what it says about today's capital markets for space companies.

"Aalyria is notable for achieving unicorn status just four years after its spin-out, though its technology benefited from more than a decade of development at Google and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Satellite makers Apex and K2 reached their blockbuster valuations in 2025 just three years after being founded. That is a rapid trajectory for capital-intensive hardware businesses.

I wouldn't be surprised to see more unicorns emerge this year, given the amount of private capital that's ready to be deployed for the right company, particularly as investors anticipate the public markets opening more broadly to space businesses.

A record-setting SpaceX debut would shine an even brighter spotlight on the industry, highlighting the growing maturity of venture-backed space companies that have achieved meaningful scale."

SIGNIFICANT DIGIT

24

The number of projects the Texas Space Commission funded with its Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund. In all, the commission awarded $150 million as part of this round.

Troy Meink, secretary of the Air Force, speaks Feb. 23 at the Air & Space Forces Association's Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colorado. Credit: Jud McCrehin, Air & Space Forces Association

A BIGGER SPACE FORCE

Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said the U.S. Space Force is preparing for a period of sustained expansion as its mission set broadens and its workload increases, requiring more personnel and a more specialized workforce.

The Space Force, established in 2019 as the nation's sixth military branch, has roughly 10,000 uniformed guardians and about 5,000 civilian employees. Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Shawn Bratton last month suggested the service could double in size over the next decade, citing growing operational demands.

"We're trying to increase the size of the Space Force because they need more of everything," Meink said. As the smallest military branch, he added, "there's no question the Space Force is going to grow quite a bit compared to the other services."

An analysis released by the National Security Space Association on Tuesday estimated that the Pentagon is spending $57.7 billion on space in fiscal year 2026, including the Space Force, Missile Defense Agency and space efforts in other services.

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