MUNICH — Starlab Space has received a significant financial boost from an investment group as its commercial space station project enters a crucial stage. Janus Henderson Group, a London-based asset management firm, announced on November 20 its investment in Starlab Space, the joint venture dedicated to building a commercial station. The specific amount of the investment was not disclosed, and a Janus Henderson representative declined to comment.
Starlab is among several companies developing commercial space stations. It participates in the initial phase of NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations (CLD) program, supporting companies as NASA plans to retire the International Space Station and transition research to commercial successors.
“We have strong conviction that Starlab has the best design, lowest cost profile and most compelling business model of any of the contenders vying to replace the ISS after its deorbit in 2030,” said Jonathan Coleman, small-cap growth portfolio manager at Janus Henderson. “The U.S.-led global partnership is a distinctive model that makes the business a more attractive partner to NASA and international space agencies.”
“The investment from a global financial leader such as Janus Henderson is a strong market signal that the commercial space economy is entering a new phase of maturity,” stated Dylan Taylor, chairman and chief executive of Voyager Technologies. Voyager is the leading company in the Starlab Space joint venture. Airbus Defence and Space, Mitsubishi, MDA Space, Palantir, and Space Application Services are also investors in the joint venture, along with strategic partners like Northrop Grumman and Hilton.
Janus Henderson mentioned its investment in "multiple strategic backers" of Starlab, without identifying them. This investment is one of several recent developments for Starlab. On November 5, the company announced the selection of Leidos for assembly, integration, and testing of the station, following the September announcement that Vivace would construct the primary structure of the large, single-module station. Space Application Services, a Belgian company providing payload integration and operations services, joined the joint venture in September with an undisclosed investment.
Marshall Smith, chief executive of Starlab Space, mentioned at an event at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center on November 3 that the company anticipates initiating the station’s critical design review in December, with some hardware already in production. He also noted that 55% of the station’s payload space is already reserved. “The market is really in the things that have been tested and we know work in space: for example, biopharma, cancer drugs,” he said, citing microgravity manufacturing as another area of interest.
NASA's approach to the next phase of the CLD program remains an uncertainty. NASA indicated plans to award multiple Space Act Agreements to fund commercial station development, including a commercial demonstration mission, rather than awarding a contract to build and certify a station for NASA astronauts. This approach also suggests a move away from a continuous human presence in favor of shorter missions. A draft solicitation for the next CLD phase was released in September, but the government shutdown delayed the final version.
Shifting to short-duration missions would impact the kind of work possible on commercial stations, Smith explained, as many activities require human interaction and a robust supply chain. “I think a gap would be very hard on the market,” he said. “I don’t think there needs to be a gap. We let companies decide what they want to build based on commercial markets.”