UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
__________________________
FORM 20-F
__________________________
| REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(B) OR 12(G) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |||||
| OR | |||||
| ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |||||
For the Fiscal Year Ended | |||||
| OR | |||||
| TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |||||
| OR | |||||
| SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |||||
__________________________
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
__________________________
Not applicable
(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)
__________________________
Oficina 324 Zonamérica | ||||||||
| (Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (Address of principal executive offices) | |||||||
(Name, Telephone, Email and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)
__________________________
Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||||||||||||
The | ||||||||||||||
The | ||||||||||||||
Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act: None
Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of December 31, 2022: 75,612,795 Class A ordinary shares and 49,184,868 warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares and 13,582,642 Class B ordinary shares.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes o No x
If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Yes o No x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large accelerated filer | o | Accelerated filer | o | x | Emerging growth company | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o
†The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting over Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. o
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:
| x | International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board | o | Other | o | |||||||||||||||||||
If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow. Item 17 o Item 18 o
If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o No x
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Page | ||||||||
| PART I | ||||||||
| PART II | ||||||||
1
DEFINED TERMS
Unless defined elsewhere in this Report, the following terms shall be defined as follows:
“$8.63 Warrants” means warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares at an exercise price of $8.63 per share which warrants, when issued, had an exercise price of $11.50 which was reduced pursuant to the terms of the warrants consisting, as of the issuance date, of (a) 8,333,333 Public Warrants, (b) 333,333 warrants issued to Sponsor in exchange for CF V warrants purchased by Sponsor pursuant to the Forward Purchase Contract and (c) 200,000 warrants issued to Sponsor in exchange for warrants purchased by Sponsor in a private placement in connection with the Merger transaction.
“Board” means the board of directors of Satellogic Inc.
“BVI” means the British Virgin Islands.
“BVI Act” means the BVI Business Companies Act, (As Revised).
“Cantor” means Cantor Fitzgerald L.P., a Delaware limited partnership and an affiliate of the Sponsor, CF&Co. and, prior to the consummation of the Merger, CF V.
“CF V” means CF Acquisition Corp. V, a Delaware corporation, now known as “Satellogic V Inc.”
“CF&Co.” means Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., a New York general partnership and an affiliate of the Sponsor.
“CF Securities” means Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, a New York general partnership and an affiliate of the Sponsor.
“Class A ordinary shares” means Class A ordinary shares , par value $0.0001 per share.
“Class B ordinary shares” means Class B ordinary shares , par value $0.0001 per share.
“Closing” means the closing of the Merger.
“Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
“Company” means Satellogic Inc.
“Company Governing Documents” means the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Company, as amended.
“Columbia Loan” means the Loan and Security Agreement, dated March 8, 2021, by and between Columbia River Investment Limited, a BVI company, and us.
“Columbia Warrant” means the warrant issued to Columbia River Investment Limited pursuant to the Columbia Loan.
“EO” means earth observation.
“Forward Purchase Contract” means that certain amendment and restatement of the forward purchase contract, dated January 28, 2021, by and between CF V and the Sponsor pursuant to which the Sponsor agreed to purchase, and we agreed to issue and sell to the Sponsor, 1,250,000 Class A ordinary shares (subject to adjustment) and 333,333 warrants.
“GEO” means geostationary earth orbit satellites.
“IFRS” means the International Financial Reporting Standards, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.
“IRS” means the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.
“LEO” means low earth orbit satellites.
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“Liberty Letter Agreement” Amended and Restated Letter Agreement, dated as of February 10, 2022 by and among Satellogic Inc., Liberty Strategic Capital (SATL) Holdings, LLC and CFAC Holdings V, LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.16 to the Registration Statement on Form F-1 filed on February 14, 2022 (file no. 333-262699) and filed as Exhibit 10.13 to this Report).
“MEO” means medium earth orbit satellites.
“Merger” means the Transactions consummated pursuant to the Merger Agreement.
“Nasdaq” means The Nasdaq Capital Market.
“PIPE Investment” means the sale of Class A ordinary shares pursuant to PIPE Subscription Agreements in a private placement that occurred concurrently with the closing of the Merger.
“PIPE Investors” means investors that subscribed for Class A ordinary shares in the PIPE Investment.
“PIPE Subscription Agreements” mean the Subscription Agreements, dated as of July 5, 2021, by and among CF V, the Company and the PIPE Investors.
“PIPE Warrant Agreement” means that certain Warrant Agreement dated January 25, 2022, by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company governing the PIPE Warrant.
“PIPE Warrant” means the warrants to acquire 2,500,000 Class A ordinary shares at a purchase price of $20.00 per share.
“Promissory Note Waiver Letter” means that certain Waiver Letter, dated January 18, 2022, by and between the Company and CF Securities.
“Public Warrant Agreement” means that certain Warrant Agreement, dated January 28, 2021, by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company governing the $8.63 Warrants.
“Public Warrants” means warrants to purchase our Class A ordinary shares that are listed to trade publicly on Nasdaq.
“R&D” means research and development.
“SEC” means the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Securities Act” means the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
“SpaceX” means SpaceX Exploration Technologies Corp.
“SpaceX Agreement” means that certain Multi-Launch Agreement, dated April 5, 2022, by and between the Company and SpaceX.
“Sponsor” means CFAC Holdings V, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.
“Transactions” means the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement or any of the ancillary agreements related thereto.
“U.S. dollar,” “$” or “USD” each refers to the United States Dollar.
“U.S. GAAP” means accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
“Warrants” means the Columbia Warrants, the PIPE Warrants, the Liberty Warrants, the Liberty Advisory Fee Warrants, and the $8.63 Warrants.
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Report contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. The words “anticipates,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predicts,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us and include statements concerning, among other things, our plans, strategies and prospects, both business and financial. Although we believe our plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot give any assurance that we either will achieve or realize these plans, intentions or expectations. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Generally, statements that are not historical facts, including statements concerning possible or assumed future actions, business strategies, events or results of operations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this Report include, but are not limited to, statements about:
•our future financial performance, including funding expansion plans and opportunities;
•our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors;
•changes in our strategy, future operations, financial condition, estimated revenue and losses, projected costs, prospects and plans;
•our ability to coordinate with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”) Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs agency to assure an understanding of regulations as they evolve;
•the implementation, market acceptance and success of our business model;
•our expectations surrounding capital requirements as it seeks to build and launch more satellites;
•our expectations surrounding the growth of our commercial platform as a part of our revenues;
•our ability to conduct remaps of the planet with increasing regularity or frequency as we increase the number of our satellites;
•our ability to productize our internal data analytics platform;
•our plans to grow our constellation of satellites;
•the expected performance of our Space Systems business line;
•our ability to launch satellites less expensively than our competitors; and
•our ability to increase satellite production to meet demand and reach our mapping goals.
Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the control of the Company. Many factors could cause actual future results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this Report, including but not limited to:
•our ability to generate revenue as expected;
•our ability to effectively market and sell our EO services and to convert contracted revenues and our pipeline of potential contracts into actual revenues;
•the potential loss of one or more of our largest customers;
•the considerable time and expense related to our sales efforts and the length and unpredictability of our sales cycle;
•risks and uncertainties associated with defense-related contracts;
•risks related to our pricing structure;
•our ability to scale production of our satellites as planned;
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•unforeseen risks, challenges and uncertainties related to our expansion into new business lines;
•our dependence on third parties, including SpaceX, to transport and launch our satellites into space;
•our reliance on third party vendors and manufacturers to build and provide certain satellite components, products, or services, and the inability of these vendors and manufacturers to meet our needs;
•our dependence on ground station and cloud-based computing infrastructure operated by third parties for value added services, and any errors, disruption, performance problems, or failure in their or our operational infrastructure;
•risk related to certain minimum service requirements in our customer contracts;
•market acceptance of our EO services and our dependence upon our ability to keep pace with the latest technological advances;
•our ability to identify suitable acquisition candidates or consummate acquisitions on acceptable terms, or our ability to successfully integrate acquisitions;
•competition for geospatial intelligence, imagery and related data analytic products and services;
•challenges with international operations or unexpected changes to the regulatory environment in certain markets;
•unknown defects or errors in our products;
•risks related to the misconduct of our employees or other improper activities in which they may engage;
•risk related to the capital-intensive nature of our business and our ability to raise adequate capital to finance our business strategies;
•risks related to the failure of our customers to pay us in accordance with the terms of their agreements;
•uncertainties beyond our control related to the production, launch, commissioning, and/or operation of our satellites and related ground systems, software and analytic technologies;
•the failure of the market for geospatial intelligence, imagery and related data analytics to achieve the growth potential we expect;
•risks related to our satellites and related equipment becoming impaired;
•risks related to the failure of our satellites to operate as intended;
•production and launch delays, launch failures, and damage or destruction to our satellites during launch;
•significant risks and uncertainties related to our insurance that may not be covered by insurance; and
•the impact of natural disasters, unusual or prolonged unfavorable weather conditions, epidemic outbreaks, terrorist acts and political events on our business and satellite launch schedules.
Risks, uncertainties and events may cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations described in our forward-looking statements.
PART I
ITEM 1. IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS
Not applicable.
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ITEM 2. OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE
Not applicable.
ITEM 3. KEY INFORMATION
A. RESERVED
Not applicable.
B. Capitalization and Indebtedness.
Not applicable.
C. Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds.
Not applicable.
D. Risk Factors
An investment in our securities carries a significant degree of risk. Readers should carefully consider the following risks and other information in this Report, including our Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Report. Additional risks and uncertainties of which we are not presently aware or that we currently deem immaterial could also affect our business operations and financial condition. If any of these risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects could be materially affected. As a result, the trading price of our securities could decline and an investor could lose part or all of their investment. Unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, references in this section to “we,” “our,” “us,” “the Company” and similar terms are to Nettar Group Inc. (d/b/a Satellogic) before the Merger and to Satellogic Inc. after the Merger.
Summary Risk Factors
•If we do not generate revenue as expected, our financial condition will be materially and adversely affected.
•The success of our business will be highly dependent on our ability to effectively market and sell our products and services and to convert contracted revenues, which can be a costly process.
•The loss of one or more of our largest customers could adversely affect our results of operations.
•Our sales efforts involve considerable time and expense, and our sales cycle is long and unpredictable.
•We may face risks and uncertainties associated with defense-related contracts, which may have a material adverse effect on our business.
•Our pricing structure may not be optimal and may require adjustments over time.
•If we are unable to scale production of our satellites, our business could be materially and adversely affected.
•Our expansion into new business lines and services may result in unforeseen risks, challenges and uncertainties.
•We are dependent on third parties to transport and launch our satellites into space and any delay could have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
•Although we design and build our satellites and many of our key satellite components, we also rely on third party vendors and manufacturers and the inability of these vendors and manufacturers to meet our needs could have a material adverse effect on our business.
•We depend on ground station and cloud-based computing infrastructure operated by third parties, and any failure in their or our operational infrastructure could materially and adversely affect our business.
•Our customer contracts may require us to meet certain minimum service requirements which can vary significantly. Any failure to meet our service requirements may materially and adversely affect our business.
•We may fail to foresee challenges with international operations.
•Our employees may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, which could cause us to incur costs.
•Our customers may fail to pay us, necessitating action by us to compel payment.
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•Our ability to grow our business depends on the successful production, launch, commissioning and/or operation of our satellites, which is subject to many uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control.
•Our business involves significant risks and uncertainties that may not be covered by insurance.
•Interruption or failure of our infrastructure could hurt our ability to effectively perform our daily operations and provide and produce our products and services, which could adversely affect our operating results.
•We may be subject to stringent U.S. export and import laws and regulations. Unfavorable changes in, or our failure to comply with, these laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business.
•Increasing regulatory and customer focus on data privacy issues and expanding laws may impact our business.
•We are subject to anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws in various countries. We can be subject to criminal and civil liability and other serious consequences for violations of such laws, which can harm our business.
•We may be unable to protect our intellectual property rights.
•Our technology may violate the proprietary rights of third parties and our intellectual property may be misappropriated or infringed upon by third parties, each of which could have a negative impact on our operations.
•The global COVID-19 outbreak has affected our business and operations, and the full extent to which a resurgence of COVID-19 or similar outbreak will affect us will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain.
•We may become involved in litigation that may materially adversely affect us.
•We have incurred and will continue to incur significant expenses and administrative burdens as a public company, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
•Our historical financial results may not be indicative of what our actual financial position or results of operations would have been if we were a public company during all periods presented.
•The dual class structure of our common stock has the effect of concentrating voting control with certain of our stockholders and limiting our other stockholders’ ability to influence corporate matters and could discourage others from pursuing any change of control transactions that holders of Class A ordinary shares may view as beneficial.
•We do not expect to declare any dividends in the foreseeable future.
•If securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about us, the price and trading volume of our securities could decline.
•Following a forfeiture event under the Merger Agreement, certain holders of our Class A ordinary shares may be issued additional Class A ordinary shares if the trading price of our Class A ordinary shares then meets certain earnout thresholds. Such issuance would dilute existing holders.
•There can be no assurance that the Class A ordinary shares or the Public Warrants will remain listed on Nasdaq, or that we will be able to comply with the continued listing standards of Nasdaq.
•We are an “emerging growth company” and, as a result of the reduced disclosure and governance requirements applicable to emerging growth companies, our Class A ordinary shares may be less attractive to investors.
•Because we are incorporated under the laws of the BVI, it may be more difficult for our shareholders to protect their rights than it would if we were a corporation incorporated in another jurisdiction.
•Because we are incorporated under the laws of the BVI, it may be more difficult for our shareholders to enforce judgments against us than it would if they were shareholders of a corporation incorporated in another jurisdiction.
•The rights of our shareholders are not as extensive as those rights of stockholders of U.S. corporations.
•As a foreign private issuer, we are exempt from a number of U.S. securities laws and rules promulgated thereunder and are permitted to publicly disclose less information than U.S. public companies must. This may limit the information available to holders of our Class A ordinary shares.
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•We may lose our foreign private issuer status in the future, which could result in additional costs and expenses. This would subject us to additional SEC reporting requirements which may be difficult for us to comply with.
•If we are a passive foreign investment company for U.S. federal income tax purposes for any taxable year, U.S. holders of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants to purchase our Class A ordinary shares could be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.
Risk Related to Our Business and Industry
We are an early stage company that has not demonstrated a sustained ability to generate revenues. If we do not generate revenue as expected, our financial condition will be materially and adversely affected.
Since inception, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to designing, building and developing our satellites and satellite components and technology, enhancing our geospatial analytics capabilities and services, planning our business, raising capital and providing general and administrative support for these operations. As a relatively new business, we have not demonstrated a sustained ability to generate sufficient revenue from our geospatial intelligence, imagery and related data analytic products and services (“EO services”) or conduct sufficient sales and marketing activities necessary for successful commercialization of our geospatial data and analytics platform (“Platform”). Additionally, we recently established our Space Systems business line, which will allow us to sell our satellites directly to customers, but for which we have no demonstrated track record of revenues. Consequently, any assessment a reader makes about our current business, future success or viability may not be as accurate as it could be if we had a longer operating history. Further, our limited financial track record, without meaningful revenue from our expected future principal business, is of limited reference value for an assessment of our business and future prospects.
As of December 31, 2022, we have an accumulated deficit of $222.8 million. For the year ended December 31, 2022, we had net cash used in operating activities of $68.5 million. As of December 31, 2022, we had cash and cash equivalents of $76.5 million. We will continue to incur losses and negative operating cash flows each quarter until we are able to onboard a sufficient number of customers, contracts and launch and scale a sufficient number of our constellation of satellites, to become profitable and generate positive operating cash flows. As we work to transition from initial start-up activities to commercial production and sales, it is difficult to forecast our future results. We have limited insight into trends that may emerge and affect our business, including our ability to attract and retain customers and the competition we will face. If our revenue grows slower than we anticipate or we otherwise fall materially short of our forecasts and expectations, we may not be able to achieve profitability and positive operating cash flows and our financial condition will be materially and adversely affected which could cause our stock price to decline and investors to lose confidence in us.
The success of our business will be highly dependent on our ability to effectively market and sell our EO services and to convert contracted revenues and our pipeline of potential contracts into actual revenues, which can be a costly process.
To date, we have relied heavily on equity and debt financing to fund our business and operations and are currently generating revenue from agreements with a commercial space technology customer and a governmental customer as well as from a base of smaller customer contracts. Since initially launching 13 of our satellites in late 2020, we now have a fleet of 34 satellites in orbit and have significantly accelerated our sales and marketing efforts to government defense and intelligence (“D&I”) agencies, particularly in non-U.S. countries. Our success will be highly dependent on our ability to convert our significant pipeline of potential contracts into recognized revenues. If we fail to sign contracts with at least some portion of the customers for large projects currently envisaged in our pipeline, particularly over the next couple of years when any large contract would significantly impact our revenues and financial results and grow a sufficient number of contracts with such customers, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be materially and adversely affected.
Our ability to establish and expand our customer relationships and sell our EO services is subject to a number of factors, including our ability to overcome concerns by customers relating to our lack of experience or track record in providing EO services to customers in the same industry or at all, competition from larger, more experienced service providers, our customers’ satisfaction or dissatisfaction with our Platform and/or our EO services, the frequency and severity of errors or disruptions in our Platform, reliability of our satellites and/or our Platform, the effects of general economic conditions, competitive offerings or alternatives, reductions in our customers’ spending levels, and pricing.
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In addition, continued concerns regarding our minor operations in China could impact our ability to win bids from, or enter into customer contracts with, certain government agencies or commercial customers.
Our sales growth is dependent upon our ability to implement sophisticated and potentially costly sales and marketing initiatives. These initiatives may not be effective in generating sales, and in such event our results of operations will be harmed. In the near term, we intend to derive substantially all our revenues from providing our EO services to international government D&I agencies, and in the longer-term, intend to expand our operations to serve commercial customers in a variety of markets and industries. We cannot give any assurance that we will be able to secure future business or that the potential uses for our EO services in commercial applications will develop. It is difficult to predict our future revenues and appropriately budget for our expenses, and we have limited insight into trends that may emerge and affect our business. If actual results improve more slowly than we anticipate, our operating results, prospects and financial position could be materially and adversely affected.
The loss of one or more of our largest customers could adversely affect our results of operations.
We are dependent on a small number of customers for a large portion of our revenue, such as a commercial space technology customer and a governmental customer. A significant decrease in the sales to or loss of any of our major customers would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In 2022, we had two customers that each accounted for more than 10% of our total revenue and in 2021, we had one customer that accounted for 10% of our total revenue. Customers in the defense market generally purchase our EO services in connection with government programs that have a limited duration, leading to fluctuating sales to any particular customer in this market from year to year. If we lose one or more of our major enterprise or government customers, or if we experience a significant reduction in business from one or more major enterprise or government customers, there is no assurance that we would be able to quickly replace those customers to generate comparable revenue, which could harm our operating results and profitability.
Our sales efforts involve considerable time and expense, and our sales cycle is long and unpredictable for many of our portfolio offerings.
Our results of operations may fluctuate, in part, because of the intensive nature of our sales efforts and the length and unpredictability of our sales cycle. As part of our sales efforts, we invest considerable time and expense evaluating the specific needs and requirements of our potential customers, which consist largely of government agencies and educating these potential customers about the technical capabilities and value of our satellites and our EO services and the better unit economics we can offer, which in the case of government agencies can be less important. In addition, we have only recently begun to grow our sales team, and our sales efforts have historically depended on the significant involvement of our senior management team. Given the nature of the potential customers, the length of our sales cycle tends to be long and varies substantially from customer to customer. In addition, the timing and cycle of contract bidding processes particularly for government contracts can be very unpredictable and can change or lengthen on very little notice and for reasons outside of our control. Because decisions to purchase our EO services involve significant financial commitments, potential customers generally evaluate our products and technologies at multiple levels within their organizations, each of which often have specific requirements, and typically involve senior officials and management, and multiple internal approvals. We could spend substantial time, effort, and money in our sales efforts without producing any sales. If our sales efforts to a potential customer do not result in sufficient revenue to justify our investments, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
We may face risks and uncertainties associated with defense-related contracts, which may have a material adverse effect on our business.
We are still an early-stage company and only began to recognize revenues in 2021. Acquiring defense-related governmental contracts, such as the three-year agreement we entered into with the government of Albania, is part of our growth strategy. The acquisition of defense-related or governmental customers results in our geospatial intelligence, imagery and related data analytic products and services being incorporated into defense programs. Whether such defense or governmental contracts are directly with the U.S. government, a foreign government (including Albania), or one of their respective agencies, or indirectly as a subcontractor or team member, our contracts and subcontracts are or will be subject to special risks. For example:
•Changes in government administration and national and international priorities, including developments in the geopolitical environment, or regulatory requirements, could have a significant impact on national or
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international defense spending priorities and the efficient handling of routine contractual matters. These changes could have a negative impact on our business in the future.
•We may compete directly with other suppliers or align with a prime or subcontractor competing for a contract. We may not be awarded the contract if the pricing or product offering is not competitive, either at our level or the prime or subcontractor level. In addition, in the event we are awarded a contract, we may be subject to protests by losing bidders of contract awards that can result in the reopening of the bidding process and changes in governmental policies or regulations and other political factors. In addition, we may be subject to multiple rebid requirements over the life of a defense program in order to continue to participate in a program, which can result in the loss of the contract or significantly reduce our revenue from the program. The government’s requirements for more frequent technology refreshes on defense programs may lead to increased costs and lower long-term revenues.
•Consolidation among defense industry contractors has resulted in a few large contractors with increased bargaining power relative to us. The increased bargaining power of these contractors may adversely affect our ability to compete for contracts and, as a result, may materially and adversely affect our business or results of operations in the future.
•Our usage policy currently restricts usage of our EO services, data and Platform for peaceful use only, and that may limit our ability to compete for and win certain defense-related contracts.
Our pricing structure may not be optimal and may require adjustments over time.
The pricing of our products and services will vary depending on the specific application and customer specifications. Given the complexity in determining pricing structures for our EO services, we may experience difficulty determining the appropriate price structure for our products and services. This may result in missed revenue opportunities and lower than expected margins if we price our products and services too low, or in us losing bids if we price our products and services too high. In addition, we expect that we may need to change our pricing model from time to time, including as a result of competition, global economic conditions, reductions in our customers’ spending levels generally, changes in product mix, pricing studies or changes in how information technology infrastructure is broadly consumed. Similarly, as we introduce new products and services, or as a result of the evolution of our existing products and services, we may have difficulty determining the appropriate price structure for our products and services. In addition, as new and existing competitors introduce new products or services that compete with ours, or revise their pricing structures, we may be unable to attract new customers at the same price or based on the same pricing model as we have used historically. Moreover, customers may demand price concessions. As a result, we may be required from time to time to revise our pricing structure or reduce our prices, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
If we are unable to scale production of our satellites as planned, our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Our business plan is based on us building out our constellation of satellites to 200+ satellites. Our ability to achieve our production plans and deliver our products and services to our customers will depend upon many factors, including our ability to:
•prepare and operate high-throughput production factories for production to build a large number of satellites;
•acquire sufficient quantities of third-party components and supplies;
•recruit and train new staff while maintaining desired quality levels;
•implement an effective supplier strategy and supply chain management system; and
•adopt manufacturing and quality control processes, which we must successfully introduce and scale for production at any new production facilities.
We may be unable to prepare and operate high throughput production facilities for production within our planned timeframes, in a cost-effective manner or at all due to a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, a failure to acquire or lease a production facility, a stoppage of construction as a result of public health emergencies such as COVID-19, geopolitical conflicts, insufficiency of utility infrastructure, unexpected construction problems, permitting and other regulatory issues, severe weather, labor disputes, and issues with subcontractors or vendors. In addition, the cost to scale satellite production may be more than we are currently forecasting based on higher plant acquisition and build out costs, higher labor costs, increases in plant and equipment costs, increased transportation and supply chain costs and higher costs
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to manage and administer the plant and supply chain. We recently delayed the launch of our previously discussed high-throughput plant in the Netherlands in favor of upgrading our existing manufacturing facility in Uruguay, in order to handle our current production needs. When we resume the launch of the Netherlands plant, we may be subject to such factors discussed above. Any delay or inability to build and launch satellites as we resume efforts to scale satellite production, including at the expected cost, could significantly delay or reduce expected revenue, profitability and cash flow. No assurance can be given that construction of the satellites will be completed on time or at all, or as to whether we will have sufficient funds available to complete construction if we experience unexpected delays or costs.
Our expansion into new business lines and services may result in unforeseen risks, challenges and uncertainties.
As of 2022, as a part of our go-to-market strategy, we added a new line of business, Space Systems, which will allow us to sell our satellites directly to select customers for whom satellite ownership is a priority. The addition of the Space Systems business line may result in unforeseen risks, challenges, and uncertainties. We may incur additional capital expenditure to support the expansion of our business and there is no guarantee that we will increase our revenues as a result of the Space Systems business line. Our failure to adequately manage costs and expenses and evaluate consumer demands with respect to the direct purchase of satellites by customers could materially and adversely affect the prospects of us achieving overall profitability through the Space Systems business line, which may require significant managerial, financial, operational and other resources. We may also face additional regulatory, legal and counterparty risks as a result of our addition of the Space Systems business line. If we fail to manage the development of this new business line successfully, our growth potential, business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
We are dependent on third parties to transport and launch our satellites into space and any delay could have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We are dependent on third parties to transport our satellites and ground station equipment around the world and to launch and deliver our satellites into space. Currently there are only a few companies who offer launch services, including SpaceX, with whom we have entered into the SpaceX Agreement. We require timely and affordable access to launch services that meet our business and technical requirements to deploy our satellite constellation. If the number of companies offering launch services or the number of launches does not grow in the future or there is a consolidation among companies who offer these services, this could result in a shortage of space on these launch vehicles, which may cause prices to increase, or result in our inability to secure space on a launch vehicle and, as a result, delays in our launch schedule. Additionally, adverse events with respect to our launch service providers, such as satellite launch failures or financial difficulties (which some of these providers have previously experienced), could result in increased costs or delays in the launch of our satellites. Moreover, a shortage of transportation providers for our satellites and ground station equipment may cause our costs to increase, delays in our ability to launch our satellites and gaps in our service coverage, and adversely affect our ability to meet customer demand. Any of these situations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Further, in the event that a launch is delayed, our timing for recognition of revenue may be impacted depending on the length of the delay and the nature of our impacted customer contracts. While such delays are common in the space industry, any delay in a launch could result in a delay in recognizing revenue which could materially and adversely impact our financial statements or result in negative impacts to our earnings during a specified time period, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Although we design and build our satellites and many of our key satellite components, we rely on third party vendors and manufacturers to build and provide certain satellite components, products or services and the inability of these vendors and manufacturers to meet our needs could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We design the core components that go into developing and manufacturing our satellites to be mission specific, partner with third parties to manufacture those components for us and then assemble, integrate and test the components and satellites in our own facilities. Our ability to manage our production line and supply of raw materials and components to meet production goals may be constrained by our suppliers’ inability to scale production. An inability to grow the number of satellites we have in orbit could jeopardize our ability to fulfill obligations under customer contracts, which could, in turn, result in reduced sales, contract penalties or terminations and damage to customer relationships and our reputation, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are impacted by increases in the prices of raw materials used in the production of our satellites. We monitor sources of supply in an effort to ensure that adequate raw materials and other components and supplies are available.
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Prolonged disruptions in the supply of any of our key raw materials or components, difficulty completing qualification of new sources of supply or implementing use of replacement materials, components or new sources of supply, or a continuing increase in the prices of raw materials, energy or components, including as a result of interest rate volatility, rising interest rates and geopolitical conditions could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, financial condition, and cash flows. Moreover, the imposition of tariffs or import/export restrictions on raw materials or supplied components could have a material adverse effect on our operations.
In addition, we cannot give any assurance that our suppliers have obtained and will be able to obtain or maintain all licenses, permits and approvals necessary for their operations to comply with all applicable laws and regulations, and failure to do so by them may lead to interruption in their business operations, which in turn may result in shortages of components supplied to us.
We depend on ground station and cloud-based computing infrastructure operated by third parties for value added services, and any errors, disruption, performance problems or failure in their or our operational infrastructure could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We rely on the technology, infrastructure, and software applications, including software-as-a-service offerings, of certain third parties, such as ground station infrastructure operated by two separate third-party vendors, in order to launch and deliver our satellites into space and operate some or all of certain key features or functions of our business, including deployment of our cloud-based imagery services and other geospatial and data analytic services. We do not have control over the operations of the facilities of the third parties that we use. If any of these third-party services experience errors, disruptions, security issues, or other performance deficiencies, if they are updated such that they become incompatible, if these services, software, or hardware fail or become unavailable due to extended outages, interruptions, defects, or otherwise, or if they are no longer available on commercially reasonable terms or prices (or at all), these issues could result in errors or defects in the delivery of our EO services, or our ability to manage our operations could be interrupted until equivalent services or technology, if available, are identified, procured, and implemented, all of which may take significant time and resources, increase our costs, and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our customer contracts may require us to meet certain minimum service requirements which can vary significantly from customer to customer. Any failure to meet our service requirements may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our agreements with customers may provide for minimum service level commitments, which contain specifications regarding the availability and performance of our products and services such as assured access and guaranteed capacity. Any failure of or disruption to our infrastructure could impact the performance of our satellites and the availability of our products and services to our customers. Although our customers will expect some level of potential disruption based on the product specifications and general operational conditions, if we are unable to meet any minimum service requirements or if we suffer extended periods of poor performance or unavailability of our products and services, we may lose customer contracts and suffer reputational harm which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Market acceptance of our EO services may not continue, and our business is dependent upon our ability to keep pace with the latest technological changes.
The market for our EO services is characterized by rapid technological change and evolving industry standards. Failure to respond in a timely and cost-effective way to these technological developments could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results. As a result, our success will depend, in part, on our ability to develop and market service offerings that respond in a timely manner to the technological advances and needs of our customers, and evolving industry standards. In addition, although in the near term, we intend to derive substantially all our revenues from providing EO services to international government D&I agencies, in the longer-term, we intend to expand our operations to serve commercial customers in a variety of markets and industries and through a wide range of applications.
We believe that, in order to remain competitive in the future, we will need to continue to invest significant financial resources to improve the technology of our existing products and services and develop new products and services both for existing applications and new commercial applications, including through internal R&D, acquisitions and joint ventures or other collaboration arrangements. These expenditures could divert our attention and resources from other projects, and we cannot be sure that these expenditures will ultimately lead to the timely development of new product or service offerings
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and technologies, or identification of and expansion into new markets and applications. In addition, following the establishment of our Space Systems business line, we are increasingly reliant on our ability to build and launch satellites quickly, in large volumes and at low cost. Our profitability will be dependent on our competitiveness in this area, as our competitors advance their own ability to build and launch satellites, at greater speeds, in greater volumes, and at lower costs.
Due to the design complexity of our products and services, we may, in the future, experience delays in completing the development and introduction of new or enhanced products or product applications. Any such delays could result in increased costs of development or deflect resources from other projects. In addition, there can be no assurance that the market for our EO services will develop or continue to expand or that we will be successful in identifying new markets or applications as we currently anticipate. The failure of our technology to gain market acceptance could significantly reduce our planned revenues and harm our business. Market acceptance of our products and services depends on a number of factors, including the quality, scope, timeliness, sophistication, and price of substitute products and services. We cannot be sure that our competitors will not develop competing technologies that gain market acceptance in advance of our technologies or develop technologies that better meet the needs of our customers. The possibility exists that our competitors might develop new technology or offerings that might cause our existing technology and offerings to become obsolete. If we fail to develop, manufacture, and market innovative technologies that enable our products and services to meet customers’ requirements or our technologies fail to achieve market acceptance more rapidly as compared to our competitors, our ability to procure new contracts could be negatively impacted and our business may not continue to grow in line with expectations or at all. If we are unable to achieve sustained growth, we may be unable to execute our business strategy, expand our business or fund other liquidity needs and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
We may not be able to identify suitable acquisition candidates or consummate acquisitions on acceptable terms, or we may be unable to successfully integrate acquisitions, which could disrupt our operations and materially and adversely impact our business and operating results.
We intend to continue to pursue acquisitions of complementary technologies, products and businesses as a component of our growth strategy. Acquisitions involve certain known and unknown risks that could cause our sales growth or operating results to differ from our expectations. For example:
•we may not be able to identify suitable acquisition candidates or to consummate acquisitions on acceptable terms;
•we may not be able to obtain the necessary financing, on favorable terms or at all, to finance any or all of our potential acquisitions; and
•acquired technologies, products or businesses may not perform as we expect and we may fail to realize the anticipated benefits from the acquisition.
In addition, our acquisition strategy may divert management’s attention away from our existing business, resulting in the loss of key customers or employees, and expose us to unanticipated problems or legal liabilities, including responsibility as a successor for undisclosed or contingent liabilities of acquired businesses or assets.
If we fail to effectively conduct due diligence on our potential targets, for example, we may not identify problems at target companies or we may fail to recognize incompatibilities or other obstacles to successful integration. Our inability to successfully integrate future acquisitions could impede us from realizing all of the benefits of those acquisitions and could materially weaken our business operations. The integration process may disrupt our business and, if new technologies, products or businesses are not implemented effectively, may preclude the realization of the full benefits expected by us and could harm our results of operations. In addition, the overall integration of new technologies, products or businesses may result in unanticipated problems, expenses, liabilities and competitive responses.
Further, even if the operations of an acquisition are integrated successfully, we may not realize the full benefits of the acquisition, including the synergies, cost savings or growth opportunities that we expect. These benefits may not be achieved within the anticipated time frame, or at all. Further, acquisitions may cause us to issue securities that would dilute our current stockholders’ ownership percentage, use a substantial portion of our cash resources, experience volatility in earnings due to changes in contingent consideration related to acquisition earn-out liability estimates or become subject to litigation.
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We face competition for geospatial intelligence, imagery and related data analytic products and services which may limit our ability to gain market share.
We operate in the NewSpace sector, which refers to the increased commercialization and privatization of the space sector. Competition in our imagery services business is highly diverse, and while our competitors offer different products, there is often competition for contracts that are part of governmental budgets. The major existing and potential competitors for our EO services include commercial satellite imagery companies, state-owned imagery providers, aerial imagery companies, free sources of imagery and unmanned aerial vehicles. We also face competition from companies that provide geospatial data analytic information and services to the U.S. government, including defense prime contractors.
We plan to leverage our superior unit economics and put enough satellites in orbit to remap the entire surface of the earth in high-resolution on a daily basis and, in doing so expect to deliver our data to customers at near zero marginal cost which we believe will provide us with a competitive advantage against an existing EO market that is currently supply-constrained. However, our competitors or potential competitors could, in the future, offer satellite-based imagery or other products and services with more attractive features than our products and services which could outweigh the lower cost of our products and services. Our competitors could introduce new fleets of satellites, experience fewer delays in the rollout of new satellites, and could be awarded government contracts for which we are competing. The emergence of new remote imaging technologies or the continued growth of low-cost imaging satellites could negatively affect our sales efforts. More importantly, if competitors develop and launch satellites or other imagery-content sources with more advanced capabilities and technologies than ours, or offer products and services at lower prices than ours, our business and results of operations could be harmed.
The U.S. government and foreign governments may develop, construct, launch and operate their own imagery satellites, which could reduce their need to rely on us and other commercial suppliers. In addition, such governments could sell or provide free of charge imagery from their satellites and thereby compete with our EO services. Also, governments may at times make our imagery freely available for humanitarian purposes, which could impair our revenue growth with non-governmental organizations.
In addition, some of our international competitors currently benefit from, and others may benefit in the future from, subsidies and other protective measures implemented by their home countries where governments are providing financial support, including significant investments in the development of new technologies. Government support of this nature greatly reduces the commercial risks associated with satellite development activities for these competitors. This market environment may result in increased pressures on our pricing and other competitive factors.
Some of our competitors have made or could make acquisitions of businesses that allow them to offer more competitive and comprehensive solutions. As a result of such acquisitions, our current or potential competitors may be able to accelerate the adoption of new technologies that better address customer needs, devote greater resources to bring these products and services to market, initiate or withstand substantial price competition, or develop and expand their product and service offerings more quickly than us. These competitive pressures in our market or our failure to compete effectively may result in fewer orders and reduced revenue and margins and impair our ability to acquire market share. In addition, it is possible that industry consolidation may impact customers’ perceptions of the viability of smaller or even mid-size companies and consequently customers’ willingness to purchase from such firms.
We may not compete successfully against our current or potential competitors. If we are unable to compete successfully, or if competing successfully requires us to take costly actions in response to the actions of our competitors, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, companies competing with us may have an entirely different pricing or distribution model from ours. Increased competition could result in fewer customer contracts, price reductions, reduced margins, and inability to gain market share, any of which could harm our business and results of operations.
We may fail to foresee challenges with international operations or the regulatory environment in certain markets may unexpectedly change.
Our future success will depend heavily upon our ability to oversee production operations at facilities and locations outside of our current countries of operation and management’s day-to-day oversight. Our international operations expose us to numerous challenges and risks including, but not limited to, adverse political, regulatory, legislative, and economic conditions in various jurisdictions; costs of complying with varying governmental regulations; fluctuations in currency exchange rates; and difficulties in protecting intellectual property rights in foreign countries. Unforeseen challenges in sustaining efficient operations, decreases in product quality, language and cultural differences, political and economic
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unrest, unexpected changes in the regulatory environment or theft of intellectual property from our satellite production facilities, or other yet-undiscovered challenges, could materially and adversely affect us, our business, financial position, and results of operations.
Our products and services are complex and could have unknown defects or errors, which may increase our costs, harm our reputation with customers, give rise to costly litigation, or divert our or our customers’ resources from other purposes.
We employ sophisticated design and testing processes and practices. Nevertheless, our products and services may contain defects or errors, or experience performance problems when first introduced, when new versions or enhancements are released, or even after these products have been in use for a period of time. Our systems may not be successfully implemented, pass required acceptance criteria, or operate or give the desired output, or it may not be able to detect and fix all defects in our satellites and our EO services, or resolve any delays or availability issues in the launch services we procure. These problems could result in expensive and time-consuming design modifications, delays in the introduction of new products or enhancements, significant increases in our service and maintenance costs, termination of contracts for convenience or cause, diversion of our personnel’s attention from our product development efforts, exposure to liability for damages, damaged customer relationships, and harm to our reputation, any of which could materially and adversely harm our results of operations. In addition, increased development costs could be substantial.
Our employees or others acting on our behalf may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, which could cause us to lose contracts or incur costs.
We are exposed to the risk that employee fraud or other misconduct from our employees or others acting on our behalf could occur. Misconduct by employees or others could include intentional failures to comply with the various regulatory regimes to which we are subject, engaging in unauthorized activities, insider threats to our cybersecurity, or falsifying records relating to the success or failure of our launches, satellites or products and services generally. Misconduct by our employees or others acting on our behalf could also involve the improper use of our customers’ sensitive or classified information, which could result in regulatory sanctions against us, serious harm to our reputation or a loss of contracts and a reduction in revenues or cause us to incur costs to respond to any related governmental inquiries. We have adopted policies and procedures designed to prevent misconduct; however, it is not always possible to deter misconduct, and the precautions we take to prevent and detect this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses, which could cause us to lose contracts or cause a reduction in revenues. In addition, alleged or actual misconduct by employees or others acting on our behalf could result in investigations or prosecutions of persons engaged in the subject activities, which could result in unanticipated consequences or expenses and management distraction for us regardless of whether we are alleged to have any responsibility.
We may in the future experience such misconduct, despite our various compliance programs. Actual or alleged misconduct or improper actions by our employees, agents, subcontractors, suppliers, business partners and/or joint ventures could subject us to administrative, civil or criminal investigations and enforcement actions; monetary and non-monetary penalties; liabilities; or the loss of privileges and other sanctions, including suspension and debarment, which could negatively impact our reputation and ability to conduct or attract new business and could materially and adversely affect us, our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our business is capital intensive, and we may not be able to raise adequate capital to finance our business strategies, including funding future satellites, or we may be able to do so only on terms that significantly restrict our ability to operate our business.
Implementation of our business strategy, such as expanding our satellite constellation and our product and service offerings, requires a substantial outlay of capital. As we pursue our business strategies and seek to respond to opportunities and trends in our industry, our actual capital expenditures may differ from our expected capital expenditures. The nature of our business also requires us to make capital expenditure decisions in anticipation of customer demand, and we may not be able to correctly predict such demand. If our customer demand exceeds our ability to respond to that demand, we may not be able to fully capture the growth in demand.
We currently expect that our ongoing liquidity requirements for sustaining our operations will be satisfied by cash on hand and cash generated from our existing and future operations supplemented, where necessary or advantageous, by available credit. However, we cannot provide assurances that our businesses will generate sufficient cash flow from operations in the future or that additional capital will be available in amounts sufficient to enable us to execute our business
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strategies. As discussed below, while we believe our cash on hand resulting from the Merger, along with ongoing revenue generation, will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next twelve months, our ability to satisfy our longer-term liquidity will depend primarily on our ability to grow our revenue and meet our revenue targets, and additional funding may be required for a variety of reasons. The availability and cost to us of external financing depend on a number of factors, including general market conditions, our financial performance and our credit rating. Both our credit rating and our ability to obtain financing generally may be influenced by the supply and demand characteristics of our industry generally. Declines in our expected future revenue under contracts with customers and challenging business conditions faced by our customers are among factors that may adversely affect our credit. Other factors that could impact our credit include the amount of debt in our capital structure, activities associated with our strategic initiatives, our expected future cash flows, and the capital expenditures required to execute our business strategy. The overall impact on our financial condition of any transaction that we pursue may be negative or may be negatively perceived by the financial markets and ratings agencies, and may result in adverse rating agency actions with respect to any credit rating we may have from time to time. Disruption in the capital markets, including as a result of interest rate volatility and geopolitical instability, a deterioration in our financial performance or a credit rating downgrade could limit our ability to obtain financing or could result in any such financing being available only at greater cost or on more restrictive terms than might otherwise be available.
Long-term disruptions in the capital and credit markets as a result of uncertainty due to recessions, changing or increased regulation or failures of significant financial institutions could adversely affect our access to capital. If financial market disruptions occur, it may become difficult for us to raise additional capital or refinance debt when needed, on acceptable terms or at all. Any disruption could require us to take measures to conserve cash until the markets stabilize or until alternative credit arrangements or other funding for our business needs can be arranged. Such measures could include deferring capital expenditures and reducing or eliminating other discretionary uses of cash, which could materially and adversely impact our business and our ability to execute our business strategies.
Our customers may fail to pay us in accordance with the terms of their agreements, necessitating action by us to compel payment.
If customers fail to pay us under the terms of our agreements, we may be adversely affected both from the inability to collect amounts due and the cost and practicality of enforcing the terms of our contracts, including through litigation. The risk of such negative effects increases based on the term length of our customer arrangements and based on the relevant customer’s jurisdiction, for example where a customer is located in a developing country or elsewhere that makes contract enforcement impractical. Furthermore, some of our customers may seek bankruptcy protection or other similar relief, including as a result of the impacts and disruptions caused by rising interest rates, capital markets volatility and geopolitical instability, or other global events, and fail to pay amounts due to us, or pay those amounts more slowly, either of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Risks Relating to Our Satellites and Industry
Our ability to grow our business depends on the successful production, launch, commissioning and/ or operation of our satellites and related ground systems, software and analytic technologies, which is subject to many uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control.
Our current primary R&D objectives focus on the development of satellites and related components that can remap the entire surface of the Earth in high resolution as well as our EO services, including creating a catalog of archived data. While we currently have 34 satellites in orbit, we estimate the gross costs associated with designing, building, and launching our satellites to build out our constellation will be significant, and there can be no assurance that we will complete these deployments on a timely basis, on budget or at all. Design, manufacture and launch of satellite systems are highly complex and historically have been subject to delays and cost over-runs. If we do not complete development and manufacturing of additional satellites in our anticipated timeframes or at all, our ability to grow our business will be adversely affected. The successful development, integration, and operation of our satellites and our EO services involves many uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control, including, but not limited to:
•timing in finalizing satellite design and specifications;
•performance of satellites meeting design specifications;
•failure of satellites as a result of technological or manufacturing difficulties, design issues or other unforeseen matters;
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•engineering and/or manufacturing performance failing or falling below expected levels of output or efficiency;
•increases in costs of materials and supplied components and services;
•changes in project scope;
•our ability to obtain additional applicable approvals, licenses or certifications from regulatory agencies, if required, and to maintain current approvals, licenses or certifications;
•performance of our manufacturing facilities despite risks that disrupt productions, such as natural disasters, catastrophic events or labor disputes;
•performance of a limited number of suppliers for certain raw materials and supplied components, the accuracy of supplier representations as to the suitability of such raw materials and supplied components for our products, and their willingness to do business with us;
•performance of our internal and third-party resources that support our R&D activities;
•our ability to protect our intellectual property critical to the design and function of our satellites and our EO services;
•our ability to continue funding and maintaining our R&D activities;
•successful completion of demonstration missions; and
•the impact of public health emergencies, such as COVID-19, on us, our customers and suppliers, and the global economy.
The occurrence or failure of any of the above events, as applicable, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue to develop, integrate and operate our satellites and related infrastructure, products, and services, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
The market for geospatial intelligence, imagery and related data analytics has not been established with precision, is still emerging and may not achieve the growth potential we expect or may grow more slowly than expected.
The market for geospatial intelligence, imagery and related data analytics has not been established with precision as the commercialization of space is a relatively new development and is rapidly evolving. Our views of the total addressable market are based on a number of third-party reports which may or may not accurately reflect future market size and growth. As a result, our views of the total addressable market for our products and services may prove to be incorrect. In addition, if interest in our EO services by commercial customers, or the expected growth in commercial applications for EO services, is less than expected, or our satellite and related technologies are unable to meet expected customer expectations and demand, our business and financial results will be materially and adversely affected.
Our industry is characterized by changing technology and evolving standards, and we may not be successful in identifying, developing and marketing products and services that respond to rapid technological change, evolving technical standards and systems developed by others. Our competitors may develop technology that better meets the needs of our customers. If we do not continue to develop, manufacture, and market innovative technologies or applications that meet customers’ requirements, sales may suffer, and we may not be able to grow our business. If we are unable to achieve sustained growth, we may be unable to execute our business strategy, expand our business or fund other liquidity needs, and our business prospects, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
If our satellites and related equipment become impaired, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We evaluate our satellites for impairment and test for recoverability whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying amount may not be recoverable. Certain of the anomalies disclosed below may be considered to represent a significant adverse change in the physical condition of a particular satellite. There can be no assurance as to the actual operational life of a satellite or that the operational life of individual components will be consistent with their design life. A number of factors will impact the useful lives of our satellites, including, among other things, the quality of their design and construction, the durability of their component parts, and the occurrence of any anomaly or series of anomalies or other risks affecting the satellites during launch and in orbit. We currently anticipate the useful life of an operational satellite to be approximately three years. If our satellites and related equipment have shorter useful lives than we currently
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anticipate, this may lead to delays in increasing the rate of our commercial payloads and declines in actual or planned revenues, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Long-lived assets are tested periodically for impairment or whenever there is an indication that an asset may be impaired. Disruptions to our business, unexpected significant declines in our operating results, adverse technological events or changes in the regulatory environments in which we operate may result in impairment charges to our assets. Any future impairment charges could substantially affect our reported results.
If our satellites fail to operate as intended, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We rely on data obtained from our satellites in order to provide services to our customers. We may become unable or limited in our ability to collect such data. For example, satellites can temporarily go out of service and be recovered, or cease to function, including the quality of design and construction, the rate of consumption of the propellant supply, the expected gradual environmental degradation of solar panels, the durability of various satellite components and the orbits and space environments in which the satellites are placed and operated. The accumulated effects of solar radiation and single event upsets or electronic/catch-up events from the collision of charged particles, collisions with other objects (including, but not limited to, space debris and other spacecraft) or actions by malicious actors, including cyber-related actions, could also damage the satellites and subject us to liabilities for any damages caused to other spacecraft.
The manufacturing, testing, launching and operation of satellites involves complex processes and technology. Our satellites employ advanced technologies and sensors that are exposed to severe environmental stresses that have affected and could affect the performance of our satellites. Hardware component problems could lead to deterioration in performance or loss of functionality of a satellite. In addition, human operators may execute improper implementation commands that may negatively impact a satellite’s performance. Exposure of our satellites to an unanticipated catastrophic event, such as a meteor shower or a collision with space debris, could reduce the performance of, or completely destroy, the affected satellite. Even if a satellite is operated properly, minor technical flaws in the satellite’s sensors could significantly degrade its performance, which could materially affect our ability to collect imagery and market our products and services successfully.
Satellites can experience malfunctions, commonly referred to as anomalies, which have occurred and may occur in the future in our satellites. Anomalies can occur as a result of various factors, such as satellite manufacturer error, whether due to the use of new or largely unproven technology or due to a design, manufacturing or assembly defect that was not discovered before launch and general failures resulting from operating satellites in the space environment. Any single anomaly could materially and adversely affect our ability to utilize the satellite. Anomalies may also reduce the expected capacity, commercial operation and/or useful life of a satellite, thereby reducing the revenue that could be generated by that satellite or create additional expenses due to the need to provide replacement or back-up satellites or satellite capacity earlier than planned and could have a material adverse effect on our business. In addition, if a satellite or satellites experience a malfunction, the satellite capacity of our unimpacted network may be insufficient to meet all of our customers’ needs or may cause service interruptions, and we may need to potentially blackout or reduce service to certain customers, which would adversely affect our relationships with our customers and result in loss of revenues. Although we work diligently both internally and with our suppliers to determine and eliminate the cause of anomalies in new satellites and provide for redundancies of many critical components in our satellites, we may not be able to prevent the impact of anomalies in the future.
We cannot provide assurances that our satellites will continue to operate successfully in space throughout their expected operational lives. Even if a satellite is operated properly, technical flaws in that satellite’s sensors or other technical deficiencies or anomalies could significantly hinder its performance, which could materially affect our ability to collect imagery and market our products and services successfully. While certain software deficiencies may be corrected remotely, most, if not all, anomalies or debris collision damage cannot be corrected once the satellites are placed in orbit. Further, although we have some ability to actively maneuver our satellites to avoid potential collisions with space debris or other spacecraft, this ability is limited by, among other factors, uncertainties and inaccuracies in the projected orbit location of and predicted conjunctions with debris objects tracked and cataloged by the U.S. government. Additionally, some space debris is too small to be tracked and therefore its orbital location is completely unknown; nevertheless, this debris is still large enough to potentially cause severe damage or a failure of our satellites should a collision occur. Recent years have seen increases in the number of satellites deployed to low Earth orbits, and publicly announced plans call for many thousands of additional satellite deployments over the next decade. The proliferation of these low Earth orbit constellations could materially increase the risk of potential collision with space debris or another spacecraft despite the orbital debris
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mitigation requirements of the U.S. government, and could affect our ability to effectively access sufficient orbital slots to support the expected growth across our business.
If we suffer a partial or total loss of a deployed satellite, it could require a significant amount of time and could incur substantial expense to replace that satellite. We may experience other problems with our satellites that may reduce their performance. If a satellite is not fully operational, we may lose most or all of the revenue that otherwise would have been derived from that satellite and may not be able to provide adequate services to our customers, which may cause us to incur penalties under our contracts or may allow our customers to withhold payment for the time that service was impacted. Our inability to repair or replace a defective satellite or correct any other technical problem in a timely manner could result in a significant loss of revenue. If a satellite experiences a significant anomaly such that it becomes impaired or is no longer functional, it could significantly impact our business, prospects, and profitability.
Many satellites have redundant or backup systems and components that operate in the event of an anomaly, operational failure or degradation of primary critical components, but these redundant or backup systems and components are subject to risk of failure similar to those experienced by the primary systems and components. The occurrence of a failure of any of these redundant or backup systems and components could materially impair the useful life, capacity, or operational capabilities of the satellite.
Satellites are subject to production and launch delays, launch failures, and damage or destruction during launch, the occurrence of which could materially and adversely affect our operations.
Delays in the production of future satellites and the manufacture or procurement of requisite components and launch vehicles, limited availability of appropriate launch windows, possible delays in obtaining regulatory approvals, satellite damage or destruction during launch, launch failures, or incorrect orbital placement could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. The loss of, or damage to, a satellite due to a launch failure could result in significant delays in the anticipated revenue to be generated by that satellite. Any significant delay in the commencement of service of a satellite could delay or potentially permanently reduce the revenue anticipated to be generated by that satellite. In addition, if the loss of a satellite were to occur, we may not be able to accommodate affected customers with our other satellites or data from another source until a replacement satellite is available, and we may not have on hand, or be able to obtain in a timely manner, the necessary funds to cover the cost of any necessary satellite replacement. An extended launch delay beyond planned contingency, launch failure, underperformance, delay or perceived delay could have a material adverse effect on our business prospects, financial condition, and results of operations. If delays were to occur and our remediation measures and process changes were not successful or if we experience issues with planned manufacturing improvements or design and safety, we could experience issues in scaling up further satellite production. Such delays could cause us to fail to reach our goal of expanding and scaling our constellation of satellites. A failure to reach a sufficient number of satellites in our constellation may impact the revisit rates we are able to offer our customers and limit our product offerings, thereby making us less attractive to existing and potential customers.
Launch vehicles may also underperform, in which case the satellite may still be placed into service by using its onboard propulsion systems to reach the desired orbital location, resulting in a reduction in its service life. In addition, although we intend to purchase launch insurance on all of our launches, if we were not able to obtain launch insurance on commercially reasonable terms and a launch failure were to occur, we would directly suffer the loss of the cost of the satellite and related costs.
Our business involves significant risks and uncertainties that may not be covered by insurance.
We endeavor to obtain insurance coverage from established insurance carriers to cover certain risks and liabilities related to our business. However, the amount of insurance coverage that we maintain may not be adequate to cover all claims or liabilities. Existing coverage may be canceled while we remain exposed to the relevant risks and we are unable to obtain insurance to protect against all operational risks, natural hazards and liabilities. Although we maintain insurance policies that we believe to be adequate, we cannot provide assurance that this insurance will be adequate to protect us from all material judgments and expenses related to potential future claims or that these levels of insurance will be available in the future at economical prices or at all. A successful liability claim could result in substantial cost to us. Even if we are fully insured as it relates to a claim, such claim could nevertheless diminish our brand and divert management’s attention and resources, which could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Although we maintain pre-launch and launch insurance coverage for our satellites, we do not maintain in-orbit lifecycle insurance coverage. Any damage or destruction to our satellites while in orbit as a result of anomalies, failures,
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collisions with our satellites or other satellites or debris, radiation damage or other catastrophic event will not be covered by insurance, and accordingly, we will be required to pay for the repair or replacement of such satellite which may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, and results of operations.
We do not maintain third-party liability insurance with respect to our satellites. Accordingly, we currently have no insurance to cover any third-party damages that may be caused by any of our satellites, including personal and property insurance. If we experience significant uninsured losses, such events could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We typically purchase pre-launch and launch insurance coverage for our satellites to address the risk of potential systemic anomalies, failures, collisions with our satellites or other satellites or debris, or catastrophic events that occur prior to or during launch. However, such insurance may be insufficient or unavailable on acceptable cost and terms, if at all.
We have historically purchased pre-launch and launch insurance to address the risk of potential systemic anomalies, failures, collisions with our satellites or other satellites or debris, or catastrophic events during launch, to the extent that insurance was available on acceptable premiums and other terms. The insurance proceeds received in connection with a partial or total loss of the functional capacity of any of our satellites would not be sufficient to cover the replacement cost of an equivalent satellite if we choose to replace such impacted satellite. In addition, this insurance will not protect us against all losses to our satellites due to specified exclusions, applicable deductibles and material change limitations, and it may be difficult to insure against certain risks, including a partial deterioration in satellite performance and satellite re-entry.
The price and availability of insurance fluctuates significantly. Insurance market conditions or factors outside our control at the time we are in the market for the required insurance, such as failure of a satellite using similar components, could cause premiums to be significantly higher than current estimates and could reduce amounts of available coverage. The cost of our insurance has been increasing and may continue to increase. Higher premiums on insurance policies will reduce our operating income by the amount of such increased premiums, or we may be forced to purchase lower-cost policies that include terms less favorable to us, such as additional coverage exclusions or higher deductibles. If the terms of insurance policies become less favorable than those currently available, there may be limits on the amount of coverage that we can obtain, or we may not be able to obtain insurance at all.
Coordination results may adversely affect our ability to use our satellites in certain orbital locations for our proposed service or coverage area or may delay our ability to launch satellites and thereby limit our ability to provide our proposed services.
We will be required to record orbital locations and operational parameters of our satellites with the ITU and to coordinate with other satellite operators and national administrations the use of these orbital locations and operational parameters in order to avoid interference to or from other satellites. The results of coordination may adversely affect our use of our satellites using certain orbital locations and the type of applications or services that we can accommodate. If we are unable to coordinate our satellites by specified deadlines, we may not be able to use our satellites or certain orbital locations for our proposed service or coverage area, or we may lose interference protection for our satellites. The use of our satellites may also be temporarily or permanently adversely affected if the operation of other satellite networks do not conform to coordination agreements resulting in the acceptable interference levels being exceeded (such as due to operational errors associated with the transmissions to other satellite networks).
Natural disasters, unusual weather conditions, epidemic outbreaks, terrorist acts and political events could disrupt our business or satellite launch schedules. Interruption or failure of our infrastructure could hurt our ability to effectively perform our daily operations and provide and produce our products and services, which could damage our reputation and materially and adversely affect our operating results.
We are vulnerable to natural disasters and significant disruptions including tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, fires, water shortages, other extreme or unusual weather conditions, epidemics or pandemics, acts of terrorism or disruptive political events where our facilities or the launch facilities of our transport partners are located, or where our third-party suppliers’ facilities are located, power shortages and blackouts, aging infrastructures and telecommunications failures. Furthermore, climate change has increased, and may continue to increase, the rate, size and scope of these natural disasters. In the event of such a natural disaster or other disruption, we could experience disruptions to our operations or the
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operations of suppliers, subcontractors, distributors or customers, which could affect our ability to maintain launch schedules or fulfill our customer contracts.
The availability of many of our EO services depends on the continuing operation of our satellite operations infrastructure, satellite manufacturing operations, information technology and communications systems, some of which are supported by third-party vendors that are not under our control. Any downtime, damage to or failure of our systems could result in interruptions in our service, which could reduce our revenues. Our systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption from floods, fires, power loss, aging infrastructure, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, computer denial of service attacks or other attempts to harm our systems. In the event we are unable to collect, process and deliver imagery from our facility, our daily operations and operating results would be materially and adversely affected. In addition, our ground terminal centers are vulnerable to damage or interruption from human error, intentional bad acts, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, war, terrorist attacks, power losses, hardware failures, systems failures, aging infrastructure, telecommunications failures and similar events.
The occurrence and impact of any of the foregoing is difficult to predict, but one or more of them could result in lengthy interruptions in our services and/or damage our reputation, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and/or cash flows.
Prolonged unfavorable weather conditions could negatively impact our operations.
In order for satellites to collect and deliver imagery effectively, the satellite must be able to view the desired area on a certain day and at a certain time as it passes overhead. Adverse weather conditions, such as clouds or haze, may prevent satellites from collecting data and imagery or could cause the satellite to experience technical difficulties communicating with the ground terminals or collecting imagery in the same quality or volume that was intended. In addition, space weather, such as solar flares, could take our satellites out of orbit, disrupt our ground communication networks and affect the decay rate of our satellites. The occurrence of any of the foregoing could result in lengthy interruptions in our services and/or damage our reputation, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Risks Relating to Legal and Regulatory Matters
We may be subject to stringent U.S. export and import control laws and regulations. Unfavorable changes in these laws and regulations or U.S. government licensing policies, our failure to secure timely U.S. government authorizations under these laws and regulations, or our failure to comply with these laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We have a global supply chain of upstream and downstream partners including manufacturers, suppliers and launch providers from a number of countries including the U.S. Based on these activities, we may be required to comply with U.S. export control laws and regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”), administered by the U.S. Department of State and the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”), administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”). Pursuant to these foreign trade control laws and regulations, we may be required, among other things, to (i) maintain a registration under ITAR, (ii) determine the proper licensing jurisdiction and export classification of products, software, and technology, and (iii) obtain licenses or other forms of U.S. government authorization to conduct our satellite imagery and data business. Violations of applicable export control laws and related regulations could result in criminal and administrative penalties, including fines, possible denial of export privileges, and debarment, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, including our ability to enter into contracts or subcontracts for U.S. government customers. U.S. export licenses are required to transfer or make accessible certain of our products, software and technical information to our non-U.S. employees (called “deemed exports”).
The inability to secure and maintain other necessary export authorizations could negatively impact our ability to successfully compete or to operate our business as planned. For example, if we were unable to obtain or maintain our licenses to export certain spacecraft hardware, we would effectively be prohibited from launching our satellites from certain non-U.S. locations, which would limit the number of launch providers we could use. In addition, if we were unable to obtain a Department of State Technical Assistance Agreement to export certain launch related services, we would experience difficulties with or even be unable to perform integration activities necessary to safely integrate our transfer satellites to non-U.S. launch vehicles. In both cases, these restrictions could lead to higher launch costs which may have a material adverse impact on our results of operations. Similarly, if we were unable to secure effective export licensure to
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authorize the full scope of activity with a foreign partner or supplier, we may be required to make design changes to spacecraft or updates to our supplier chain, which may result in increased costs to us or delays in satellite launches.
Any changes in the export control regulations or U.S. government licensing policy, such as those necessary to implement U.S. government commitments to multilateral control regimes, may restrict our operations. There is no inherent right to perform an export and, given the significant discretion the U.S. government has in adjudicating such authorizations in furtherance of U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, there can be no assurance we will be successful in our current and future efforts to secure and maintain necessary licenses, registrations, or other U.S. government regulatory approvals.
In addition, U.S. export control laws continue to change. For example, the control lists under the ITAR and the EAR are periodically updated to reclassify specific types of export-controlled technology, meaning that any changes to the jurisdictional assignment of controlled data or hardware used by us could result in the need for different export authorizations, each then subject to a subsequent approval. Similarly, should exceptions or exemptions under the EAR or ITAR, respectively, be changed, our activities otherwise authorized via these mechanisms may become unavailable and could result in the need for additional export authorizations.
Additionally, changes to the administrative implementation of export control laws at the agency level may suddenly occur as a result of geopolitical events, which could result in existing or proposed export authorization applications being viewed in unpredictable ways, or potentially rejected, as a result of the changed agency level protocol.
To date, based on the structure of our business and operations and informal discussion with regulators, we do not believe our satellite operations are subject to U.S. regulation. However, if it is determined by a U.S. regulatory authority that our operations are subject to U.S. law, we could be subject to penalties and other adverse consequences as a result of noncompliance.
The raw data collected by our constellation is collected through a series of ground stations strategically located in several global locations (not within the U.S.). We have a mission and operations team located in Spain and Argentina that monitors and operates all satellites in the constellation. The entirety of our satellite operations and management sits outside the U.S. As a result of these factors, we do not believe we are subject to U.S. regulations issued by the NOAA or the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”), although the SpaceX Agreement, which provides for the launch of our satellites, does indirectly require us to comply with certain FAA licensing requirements. If U.S. regulators disagree with our determination that we are not subject to U.S. regulation and it is determined by a U.S. regulatory authority that we were required to, and did not, comply with U.S. regulations relating to our business and operations, we may be subject to penalties or other adverse consequences which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
If we are successful in becoming a U.S. governmental contractor, our business will be subject to significant U.S. regulations, and reductions or changes in U.S. government spending, including the U.S. defense budget, could reduce our revenue and adversely affect our business.
A large part of our growth strategy includes obtaining U.S. governmental agency customers, particularly in D&I, as well as U.S. commercial customers. If or when we contract with the U.S. government or, in certain circumstances, retain services from U.S. service providers, we must comply with a variety of U.S. laws and regulations. A violation of these laws and regulations could result in the imposition of fines and penalties to us or our customers or the termination of our or their contracts with the U.S. government. As a result, there could be a delay in our receipt of orders from our customers, a termination of such orders, or a termination of any contracts between us and the U.S. government.
•Our potential future contracts with U.S. and international defense contractors or directly with the U.S. government may be on a commercial item basis, eliminating the requirement to disclose and certify cost data. To the extent that there are interpretations or changes in the Federal Acquisition Regulations (“FAR”) regarding the qualifications necessary to sell commercial items, there could be a material impact on our business and operating results. For example, there have been legislative proposals to narrow the definition of a “commercial item” (as defined in the FAR) or to require cost and pricing data on commercial items that could limit or adversely impact our ability to contract under commercial item terms. Changes in regulatory application to our business could be accelerated due to changes in our mix of business, in federal regulations, or in the interpretation of federal regulations, which may subject us to increased oversight by the Defense Contract Audit Agency (“DCAA”) for certain of our products or services. Such changes could also trigger contract coverage under the Cost Accounting Standards (“CAS”) applicable to certain U.S. government
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procurements, further impacting our commercial operating model and requiring compliance with a defined set of business systems criteria. Growth in the value of certain contracts may increase our compliance burden, requiring us to implement new business systems to comply with such requirements. Failure to comply with applicable CAS requirements could adversely impact our ability to win future CAS-covered contracts.
•We would be subject to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (“DFARS”) and the Department of Defense (“DoD”) and federal cybersecurity requirements, in connection with any defense work we perform in the future for the U.S. government and defense prime contractors. Amendments to DoD cybersecurity requirements, such as through amendments to the FAR or DFARS, may increase our costs or delay the award of contracts if we are unable to certify that we satisfy such cybersecurity requirements.
•The U.S. government or a defense prime contractor customer could require us to relinquish data rights to a product in connection with performing work on a defense contract, which could lead to a surrender of valuable technology and intellectual property in order to participate in a government program.
•We may enter into cost reimbursable contracts with the U.S. government or a defense prime contractor customer that could offset our cost efficiency initiatives.
•We may be subject to various U.S. federal export-control statutes and regulations, which may affect our business with, among others, international defense customers. In certain cases, the export of our products and technical data to foreign persons, and the provision of technical services to foreign persons related to such products and technical data, may require licenses from the U.S. Department of Commerce or the U.S. Department of State. The time required to obtain these licenses, and the restrictions that may be contained in these licenses, may result in us being at a competitive disadvantage with international suppliers who are not subject to U.S. federal export control statutes and regulations. In addition, violations of these statutes and regulations can result in civil and, under certain circumstances, criminal liability as well as administrative penalties which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
•Sales to U.S. prime defense contractor customers as part of foreign military sales (“FMS”) programs combine several of the different types of risks and uncertainties highlighted above, including risks related to government contracts, risks related to defense contracts, timing and budgeting of foreign governments, and approval from the U.S. and foreign governments related to the programs, all of which may be impacted by macroeconomic and geopolitical factors outside of our control.
•We may in the future derive a portion of our revenue from programs with governments and government agencies that are subject to security restrictions (e.g., contracts involving classified information, classified contracts, and classified programs), which preclude the dissemination of information and technology that is classified for national security purposes under applicable law and regulations. In general, access to classified information, technology, facilities, or programs requires appropriate personnel security clearances, is subject to additional contract oversight and potential liability, and may also require appropriate facility clearances and other specialized infrastructure. Therefore, our access to classified information in connection with the performance of a U.S. government contract may be limited to certain of our employees with appropriate security clearances. When accessing sensitive information, we must comply with security requirements pursuant to the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (“NISPOM”), administered by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (“DCSA”), and other U.S. government security protocols. Failure to comply with the NISPOM or other security requirements may subject us to civil or criminal penalties, loss of access to sensitive information, loss of a U.S. government contract, or potentially debarment as a government contractor. Further, the DCSA has transitioned its review of a contractor’s security program to focus on the protection of controlled unclassified information and assets. Failure to meet DCSA’s new, broader requirements could adversely impact the ability to obtain new business as a government contractor.
•We may need to invest additional capital to build out higher level security infrastructure at certain of our facilities to be awarded contracts related to defense programs with higher level security requirements. Failure to invest in such infrastructure may limit our ability to obtain new contracts with defense programs.
•We may be required to purchase certain products that are manufactured in the United States and other relatively high-cost manufacturing locations under the Buy American Act or other regulations, and we may not manufacture or source all products in locations that meet these requirements, which may preclude our ability to sell some products or services.
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If we were to become a contractor to agencies and departments of the U.S. government, it would likely result in us being subject to routine investigations and reviews relating to compliance with various laws and regulations, including those associated with organizational conflicts of interest, procurement integrity, bid integrity and claim presentation, among others. These investigations and reviews may be conducted without our knowledge. Adverse findings in these investigations or reviews can lead to criminal, civil or administrative proceedings, and we could face civil and criminal penalties and administrative sanctions, including termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines and suspension or debarment from doing business with U.S. government agencies. In addition, we could suffer serious harm to our reputation and competitive position if allegations of impropriety were made against us, whether or not such allegations are unfounded. If our reputation or relationship were impaired due to these investigations, or if we could not obtain contracts with the U.S. government and the U.S. government otherwise ceased doing business with us or significantly decreased the amount of business it does with us, our revenues and ability to attract new business could be adversely affected.
In addition, spending authorizations for defense-related and other programs by the U.S. government have historically fluctuated, and future levels of expenditures and authorizations for these programs may decrease, remain constant or shift to programs in areas where we do not expect to provide services. Any contract we may enter into with the U.S. government and its agencies will generally be conditioned upon the continuing availability of Congressional appropriations. Congress usually appropriates funds on a fiscal year basis, even though contract performance may extend over many years. In recent years, there has been a pattern of delays in the finalization and approval of the U.S. government budget, which can create uncertainty over the extent of future U.S. government demand for our services.
Failure to comply with the requirements of the National Industrial Security Program could jeopardize our ability to provide our products and services to the U.S. government.
Our growth strategy includes seeking U.S. governmental agency customers, particularly in D&I, though we have not acquired any U.S. governmental agency customers to date. Obtaining contracts with certain U.S. governmental agencies may require us to maintain national security clearance and mitigation elements under the National Industry Security Program. Obtaining and maintaining national security clearances involves a lengthy process. In anticipation of potential future U.S. government contracts, we established a U.S. subsidiary, Satellogic North America, LLC, and have commenced the process of insulating that entity from foreign ownership, control or influence (“FOCI”), including by recruiting directors and employees dedicated to that entity and any U.S. governmental agency projects to be serviced by the entity. Failure to comply with any agreement with the U.S. DoD regarding any appropriate FOCI mitigation arrangement could result in invalidation or termination of applicable facility security clearances, which in turn would mean that Satellogic North America, LLC would not be able to enter into future contracts with the U.S. government requiring facility security clearances, and may result in the loss of the ability of this entity or any other future U.S. subsidiaries to complete then-existing contracts with the U.S. government.
Our business with governmental entities is subject to the policies, priorities, regulations, mandates, and funding levels of such governmental entities and may be negatively impacted by any change thereto.
We have recently entered into contracts with governments, including a three-year $6 million Constellation-as-a-Service contract with the Republic of Albania, and governmental agencies to provide our products and services. This subjects our business to laws and regulations applicable to companies doing business with the applicable government. These government contracts customarily contain provisions that give the applicable government substantial rights and remedies, many of which are unfavorable to counterparty contractors and are not typically found in commercial contracts. For instance, most government agencies include provisions that allow the government to unilaterally terminate or modify contracts for convenience, and in such event, the counterparty to the contract may generally recover only our incurred or committed costs and settlement expenses and profit on work completed prior to the termination. Further, typically where the government terminates a contract for default, the defaulting party may be liable for any extra costs incurred by the government in procuring undelivered items from another source.
Government contracts often also contain provisions and are subject to laws and regulations that provide government customers with additional rights and remedies not typically found in commercial contracts. These rights and remedies often allow government customers, among other things, to:
•terminate existing contracts for convenience with short notice;
•reduce orders under or otherwise unilaterally modify contracts;
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•for contracts subject to the Truthful Cost or Pricing Data Act, reduce the contract price or cost where it was increased because we or a subcontractor furnished cost or pricing data during negotiations that was not complete, accurate, and current;
•for some contracts, (i) demand a refund, make a forward price adjustment, or terminate a contract for default if we provided inaccurate or incomplete data during the contract negotiation process and (ii) reduce the contract price under triggering circumstances, including the revision of price lists or other documents upon which the contract award was predicated;
•cancel multi-year contracts and related orders if funds for contract performance for any subsequent year become unavailable;
•claim rights in solutions, systems, or technology produced by us, appropriate such work-product for their continued use without continuing to contract for our services, and disclose such work-product to third parties, including other government agencies and our competitors, which could harm our competitive position;
•prohibit future procurement awards with a particular agency due to a finding of organizational conflicts of interest based upon prior related work performed for the agency that would give us an unfair advantage over competing contractors, or the existence of conflicting roles that might bias our judgment;
•subject the award of contracts to protest by competitors, which may require the contracting federal agency or department to suspend our performance pending the outcome of the protest and may also result in a requirement to resubmit offers for the contract or in the termination, reduction, or modification of the awarded contract;
•suspend or debar us from doing business with the applicable government; and
•control or prohibit the export of our services.
In addition, government contracts normally contain additional requirements that may increase our costs of doing business, reduce our gross margins, and expose us to liability for failure to comply with these terms and conditions. These requirements include, for example:
•retainage or contract insurance guarantee requirements under which we are obligated to provide a deposit equal to a percentage of the relevant contract value, which deposit is retained by the customer to cover any loss incurred due to our failure to perform and returned only upon satisfactory completion of the contract;
•specialized disclosure and accounting requirements unique to government contracts;
•financial and compliance audits that may result in potential liability for price adjustments, recoupment of government funds after such funds have been spent, civil and criminal penalties, or administrative sanctions such as suspension or debarment from doing business with the U.S. government;
•public disclosures of certain contract and company information that may harm our competitive position or we would otherwise prefer not to disclose;
•mandatory socioeconomic compliance requirements, including labor requirements, non-discrimination and affirmative action programs and environmental compliance requirements; and
•requirements to procure certain materials, components and parts from supply sources approved by the customer.
Government contracts are also generally subject to greater scrutiny by the government, which can initiate reviews, audits and investigations regarding our compliance with government contract requirements. New regulations or procurement requirements (including, for example, regulations regarding counterfeit and corrupt parts, supply chain diligence and cybersecurity) or changes to current requirements could increase our costs and risk of non-compliance. In addition, if we fail to comply with government contracting laws, regulations and contract requirements, our contracts may be subject to termination, and we may be subject to financial and/or other liability under such contract and applicable law.
Further, changes in governmental policies, priorities, regulations, requirements applicable to commercial data and imagery providers, mandates or funding levels, the imposition of budgetary constraints or a decline in government support or deferment of funding for programs in which we or our customers participate could result in contract terminations, delays in contract awards, reduction in contract scope, performance penalties or breaches of our contracts, the failure to exercise contract options, the cancellation of planned procurements and fewer new business opportunities, all of which could materially and adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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Our business is subject to a wide variety of additional extensive and evolving government laws and regulations. Failure to comply with such laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We are subject to a wide variety of laws and regulations relating to various aspects of our business, including with respect to our space transport operations, employment and labor, health care, tax, privacy and data security, health and safety, and environmental issues. Laws and regulations at the foreign, federal, state and local levels frequently change, especially in relation to new and emerging industries (such as the NewSpace sector), and we cannot reasonably predict the impact from, or the ultimate cost of compliance with, current or future regulatory or administrative changes. We monitor these developments and devote a significant amount of management’s time and internal and external resources towards compliance with these laws, regulations and guidelines, and such compliance places a significant burden on management’s time and other resources, and it may limit our ability to expand into certain jurisdictions. Moreover, changes in law, the imposition of new or additional regulations or the enactment of any new or more stringent legislation that impacts our business could require us to change the way we operate and could have a material adverse effect on our sales, profitability, cash flows and financial condition. Failure to comply with these laws or regulations or failure to satisfy any criteria or other requirement under such laws or regulations, such as with respect to obtaining and maintaining licenses, certificates, authorizations and permits critical for the operation of our business, may result in civil penalties or private lawsuits, or result in a delay in our obtaining or the denial, suspension or revocation of licenses, certificates, authorizations or permits necessary to operate our business.
The U.S. and foreign governments may revise existing contract or procurement rules and regulations, or adopt new contract or procurement rules and regulations, at any time and may also implement restrictions or apply pressure regarding the type and amount of services the government or its contractors (including us) may obtain from private contractors. Such changes could impair our ability to obtain new contracts or renew contracts under which we currently perform when those contracts are eligible for re-competition. Any new contracting methods could be costly or administratively difficult for us to implement, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Additionally, regulation of our industry is still evolving, and new or different laws or regulations could affect our operations, increase our direct compliance costs or cause our third-party suppliers or contractors to raise prices for us because of increased compliance costs. For example, the Federal Communications Commission has an open notice of proposed rulemaking relating to mitigation of orbital debris, which could affect us and our operations. The adoption of a multi-layered regulatory approach to any one of the laws or requirements to which we are or may become subject, particularly where the layers are in conflict, could require alteration of our manufacturing processes or operational parameters, which may adversely impact our business. Further, due to the evolving nature of these requirements, we may not be in compliance with all such requirements at all times and, even when we believe we are in compliance, a regulatory agency may determine that we are not.
Any changes in applicable laws or regulations could adversely affect our business and financial condition. Any material failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations could result in contract termination, price or fee reductions or suspension or debarment from contracting.
We are subject to the orbital slot and spectrum access requirements of the International Telecommunication Union (“ITU”) and the regulatory and licensing requirements of each of the countries in which we provide services, operate facilities, or license terminals, and our business is sensitive to regulatory changes in those countries and elsewhere.
The telecommunications industry is highly regulated, and we depend on access to orbital slots and spectrum resources to provide satellite services. The ITU and U.S. and other nations’ regulators allocate spectrum for satellite services, and may change these allocations, which could change or limit how our current satellites are able to be used. In addition, we are required to maintain regulatory approvals, and from time to time obtain new regulatory approvals, from various countries in connection with providing satellite capacity, ground network uplinks, downlinks and other value-added or managed services to our customers. Obtaining and maintaining these approvals can involve significant time and expense. If we cannot obtain, or are delayed in obtaining, the required regulatory approvals, we may not be able to provide these services to our customers, operate facilities and terminals, or expand into new products or services. In addition, the laws and regulations to which we are subject could change at any time, thus making it more difficult for us to obtain new regulatory approvals or causing our existing approvals to be revoked or adversely modified. Because regulatory schemes vary by country, we may also be subject to regulations of which we are not presently aware, and which could subject us to sanctions by a government that could materially and adversely affect our operations in that country. If we cannot comply with the laws and regulations that apply to us, we could lose our revenue from services provided to the countries and territories covered by these laws and regulations and be subject to criminal or civil sanctions.
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Increasing regulatory and customer focus on data privacy issues and expanding laws may impact our business or expose us to increased liability.
We collect and process customer data, which may include personal data. Due to the sensitivity of the information and data we expect to manage in the future, as well as the nature of our customer base, the security features of our information systems are critical. A variety of U.S. federal, state and foreign laws and regulations govern the collection, use, retention, sharing and security of this information. Laws and regulations relating to privacy, data protection and consumer protection are evolving and subject to potentially differing interpretations. These requirements may not be harmonized, may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another or may conflict with other rules or our practices. As a result, our practices may not have complied or may not comply in the future with all such laws, regulations, requirements and obligations.
We expect that new industry standards, laws and regulations will continue to be proposed regarding privacy, data protection and information security in many jurisdictions, including the European e-Privacy Regulation, which is currently in draft form. We cannot yet determine the impact such future laws, regulations and standards may have on our business. Complying with these evolving obligations is costly. For instance, expanding definitions and interpretations of what constitutes “personal data” (or the equivalent) within the United States, the European Economic Area (the “EEA”) and elsewhere may increase our compliance costs and legal liability.
We are also subject to additional privacy laws and regulations, many of which, such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and national laws supplementing the GDPR, as well as legislation substantially implementing the GDPR in the United Kingdom, are significantly more stringent than those currently in effect in the United States. The GDPR requires companies to meet stringent requirements regarding the handling of personal data of individuals located in the EEA and includes significant penalties for noncompliance, which for the most serious violations may result in monetary penalties of up to the higher of €20.0 million or 4% of a group’s worldwide revenues for the preceding financial year. The United Kingdom’s version of the GDPR, which it maintains along with its Data Protection Act (collectively, the “UK GDPR”), also provides for substantial penalties that, for the most serious violations, can be the greater of £17.5 million or 4% of a group’s worldwide revenues for the preceding financial year. The GDPR, the UK GDPR, and other similar regulations require companies to give specific types of notice and informed consent is required for certain actions, and the GDPR and the UK GDPR each impose additional conditions in order to satisfy such consent, such as bundled consents.
The GDPR, the UK GDPR, and other state and global laws and regulations have increased our responsibility and potential liability in relation to personal data, and we have and will continue to put in place additional processes and programs to demonstrate compliance. New privacy laws and regulations are under development at the U.S. federal and state level and in many international jurisdictions. Any actual or perceived failure to comply with the data privacy laws or regulations, or related contractual or other obligations, or any perceived privacy rights violation, could lead to investigations, claims, and proceedings by governmental entities and private parties, damages for contract breach, and other significant costs, penalties, and other liabilities, as well as harm to our reputation and market position.
Additionally, we store customer information and content and if our customers fail to comply with their contractual obligations or applicable laws, it could result in litigation or reputational harm to us. The GDPR, UK GDPR, and other laws, regulations, standards and self-regulatory codes may affect our ability to reach current and prospective customers, understand how our offerings and services are being used, respond to customer requests allowed under the laws, and implement our new business models effectively. These new laws and regulations would similarly affect our competitors and our customers. These requirements could impact demand for our offerings and services and result in more onerous contract obligations and impose other costs that have increased and are likely to further increase over time.
We are subject to anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws in various countries, including but not limited to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. We can be subject to criminal and civil liability and other serious consequences for violations of such laws, which can harm our business.
We are subject to applicable anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws in the countries in which we do or will conduct our business, including but not limited to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (“FCPA”), and other, similar laws. We can, in certain circumstances, be held liable for violations of such laws committed by our employees, agents, contractors and others acting on our behalf, even if we do not explicitly authorize or have actual knowledge of such activities. We can also, in certain circumstances, be held liable for prior violations of such laws committed by us. Any violations of these laws and regulations may result in substantial civil, criminal and administrative fines and penalties,
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remedial measures and legal expenses, and other collateral consequences, all of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, and reputation.
Although we maintain anti-corruption policies and procedures designed to address the risk of bribery, corruption and related misconduct, certain of our activities and operations present risk from an anti-corruption perspective. We have an extensive geographic scope of operations (current and projected) and are active or pursuing business in countries that can present heightened anti-corruption compliance risks. Our target customer base also includes governments and government instrumentalities, and contracting with such entities can increase a company’s compliance risk exposure since, among other things, the representatives of such entities are typically considered to be “foreign officials” under the FCPA and may be similarly characterized under other relevant anti-corruption laws. In certain countries, we also work with third parties, such as business development agents, distributors, and resellers, including to interact with public officials on our behalf. As our operations and sales activities continue to expand, our policies and procedures will similarly have to expand to adequately address the risks presented by our activities, and we may fail to adequately expand our policies and procedures to address these increased risks, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation.
Risks Relating to Our Intellectual Property, Data Privacy and Information Security
We may be unable to protect our intellectual property rights. Disclosure of trade secrets could cause harm to our business.
To protect our proprietary rights, we rely on a combination of patents, trademarks and trade secret laws, and confidentiality agreements and license agreements with consultants, vendors and customers. Our efforts to protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights may not be sufficient. Although we apply rigorous standards, documents and processes to protect our intellectual property, there is no absolute assurance that the steps taken to protect our technology will prevent misappropriation or infringement. Our ability to enforce and protect our intellectual property rights may be limited in certain jurisdictions, which could make it easier for competitors to capture market position in such countries by utilizing technologies that are similar to those developed or licensed by us. Competitors also may harm our sales by designing products that mirror the capabilities of our products or technology without infringing on our intellectual property rights. If we do not obtain sufficient protection for our intellectual property, or if we are unable to effectively enforce our intellectual property rights, our competitiveness could be impaired, which would limit our growth and future revenue.
We attempt to protect our trade secrets and other proprietary information by entering into confidentiality, licensing and invention assignment agreements or other contracts with similar provisions with third parties and our employees and consultants. However, these agreements can be breached and, if they are, there may not be an adequate remedy available to us. In addition, others may independently discover, or reverse engineer our trade secrets and proprietary information, and, in such cases, we could not assert any intellectual property rights against such parties. Litigation may be necessary to enforce or protect our intellectual property rights or our trade secrets, or to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. Litigating a claim that a party illegally or unlawfully obtained and uses our trade secrets without authorization is difficult, expensive and time consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property, our competitors could market services or products similar to our services and products, which could reduce demand for our offerings. Any litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, protect our trade secrets or determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources, with no assurance of success.
We also try to protect our intellectual property by filing patent applications related to our technology, inventions and improvements that are important to the development of our business. The steps we take to protect our intellectual property may be inadequate. We currently have 26 issued patents, two issued utility models and 47 patent applications pending in nine jurisdictions. Our pending patent applications may not result in patents being issued, which may have a material adverse effect on our ability to prevent others from commercially exploiting products similar to ours. We cannot be certain that we are the first inventor of the subject matter to which we have filed a particular patent application, or if we are the first party to file such a patent application. If another party has filed a patent application concerning the same subject matter as we have, we may not be entitled to the protection sought by the patent application. We also cannot be certain whether the claims included in a patent application will ultimately be allowed in the applicable issued patent. As a result, we cannot be certain that the patent applications that we file will be granted. Further, the scope of protection of issued patent claims is often difficult to determine.
Patents, if issued, may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented. If our patents are invalidated or found to be unenforceable, we will lose the ability to exclude others from making, using or selling the inventions claimed. Moreover,
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an issued patent does not guarantee us the right to use the patented technology or commercialize a product using that technology. Third parties may have blocking patents that could be used to prevent us from developing our product either on our anticipated timeline or at all. Thus, patents that we may own in the future may not allow us to exploit the rights conferred by our intellectual property protection. Even if issued, patents may not be issued with claims sufficiently broad to protect our technologies or may not provide us with a competitive advantage against competitors with similar technologies. Despite our precautions, it may be possible for unauthorized third parties to copy our technology and use information that we regard as proprietary to create technology that competes with ours. Further, the laws of certain countries may not adequately protect proprietary rights, and mechanisms for enforcement of intellectual property rights in such countries may be inadequate. Our competitors may also design around our issued patents, which may adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
Our technology may violate the proprietary rights of third parties and our intellectual property may be misappropriated or infringed upon by third parties, each of which could have a negative impact on our operations.
If any of our technology violates the intellectual property rights of any third party, including copyrights and patents, such third party may assert infringement claims against us. Certain software and other intellectual property used by us or in our satellites, systems and products make use of or incorporate licensed software components or other licensed technology. Any claims brought against us may result in limitations on our ability to use the intellectual property subject to these claims. We may be required to redesign our satellites, systems or products or to obtain licenses from third parties to continue offering our satellites, systems or products to avoid substantially re-engineering such satellites, systems or products.
Our intellectual property rights may be invalidated, circumvented, challenged, infringed or required to be licensed to others. An infringement or misappropriation claim, whether or not unfounded, could harm any competitive advantage we currently derive or may derive from our proprietary rights.
Data breaches or incidents involving our technology or products could damage our business, reputation and brand and substantially harm our business and results of operations.
If our data and network infrastructure were to fail, or if we were to suffer an interruption or degradation of services in our data center, third-party cloud, or other infrastructure environments, we could lose important manufacturing and technical data, which could harm our business. Our facilities, as well as the facilities of third parties that maintain or have access to our data or network infrastructure, are vulnerable to damage or interruption from earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, cybersecurity attacks, terrorist attacks, power losses, telecommunications failures and similar events. In the event that our or any third-party provider’s systems or service abilities are hindered by any of the events discussed above, our ability to operate may be impaired and our business could be adversely affected. A decision to close facilities without adequate notice or other unanticipated problems could adversely impact our operations. Any of the aforementioned risks may be augmented if our or any third-party provider’s business continuity and disaster recovery plans prove to be inadequate. Our data center, third-party cloud, and managed service provider infrastructure also could be subject to break-ins, cyberattacks, sabotage, intentional acts of vandalism and other misconduct from a spectrum of actors ranging in sophistication from threats common to most industries to more advanced and persistent, highly organized adversaries. Any security breach, including personal data breaches, or incident, including cybersecurity incidents, that we experience could result in unauthorized access to, misuse of or unauthorized acquisition of our internal sensitive corporate data, such as financial data, intellectual property, or data related to contracts with commercial or government customers or partners. Such unauthorized access, misuse, acquisition, or modification of sensitive data may result in data loss, corruption or alteration, interruptions in our operations or damage to our computer hardware or systems or those of our customers. Moreover, negative publicity arising from these types of disruptions could damage our reputation. Furthermore, a security event that involves classified or other sensitive government information or certain controlled technical information, could subject us to civil or criminal penalties and could result in loss of government security clearances and other accreditations, loss of our government contracts, loss of access to classified information, loss of export privileges or debarment as a government contractor. The risk that these types of events could seriously harm our business is likely to increase as we expand the number of services we offer as well as increase the number of customers and the countries within which we do business.
We have implemented multiple layers of security measures designed to protect the confidentiality, integrity, availability and privacy of our data and the systems and devices that store and transmit such data. We utilize current security technologies, and our defenses are monitored and routinely tested internally. Despite these efforts, threats from malicious persons and groups, new vulnerabilities and new, advanced attacks against information systems create the risk of cybersecurity incidents. These incidents can include, but are not limited to, gaining unauthorized access to digital systems
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for purposes of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting data, or causing operational disruption. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change frequently and may not immediately produce signs of intrusion, we may be unable to anticipate these incidents or techniques, timely discover them, or implement adequate preventative measures.
In connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the related increase in work-from-home arrangements, there has been a spike in cybersecurity attacks as work-from-home measures that has led businesses to increase reliance on virtual environments and communications systems, which have been subject to increasing third-party vulnerabilities and security risks. Cyber attacks have become more sophisticated and much harder to detect and defend against. Our network and storage applications may be vulnerable to cyber attack, malicious intrusion, malfeasance, attacks by foreign governments and state-sponsored actors, loss of data privacy or other significant disruption and may be subject to unauthorized access by hackers, employees, consultants or other service providers. In addition, hardware, software or applications we develop or procure from third parties may contain defects in design or manufacture or other problems that could unexpectedly compromise information security. Unauthorized parties may also attempt to gain access to our systems or facilities through fraud, trickery or other forms of deceiving our employees, contractors and temporary staff. As cyber threats continue to evolve, we may be required to expend significant additional resources to continue to modify or enhance our protective measures or to investigate and remediate any cybersecurity vulnerabilities. We expect to maintain cyber liability insurance policies covering certain security and privacy damages. However, we do not currently have a policy and even if a policy is purchased, we cannot be certain that our coverage will be adequate for liabilities actually incurred or that insurance will continue to be available to us on economically reasonable terms, or at all.
Additionally, as a result of the intensification of cybersecurity attacks during periods of geopolitical conflict, such as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and associated activities in Ukraine and Russia, the volume and sophistication of attempted cybersecurity attacks has increased throughout the world. We believe those risks may be particularly heightened for us and other providers of geospatial intelligence and that we face heightened risk of cyber attacks on our infrastructure, systems and operations in connection with the conflict in Ukraine. The risk of cyberattack on us may be higher than that on our competitors due to our commitment to providing satellite imagery only to those organizations that will use our imagery for peaceful purposes as stated in our Terms of Use and as we have publicly stated.
Recurrent or prolonged unavailability of our services due to attacks could cause users to cease using our services and materially adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. We use software which we have developed, which we seek to continually update and improve. Replacing such systems is often time-consuming and expensive and can also be intrusive to daily business operations. Further, we may not always be successful in executing these upgrades and improvements, which may occasionally result in a failure of our systems. We may experience periodic system interruptions from time to time. Any slowdown or failure of our underlying technology infrastructure could harm our business, reputation and ability to execute our business plan, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations. Our disaster recovery plan or those of our third-party providers may be inadequate.
Our technologies contain “open source” software, and any failure to comply with the terms of one or more of these open-source licenses could negatively affect our business.
We utilize open-source software licensed from third parties on a limited basis. We primarily use this software in limited cases such as in connection with satellite testing. Some of these licenses contain requirements that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon the open-source software, and that we license these modifications or derivative works under the terms of a particular open-source license or other license granting third-parties certain rights of further use. In addition to risks related to license requirements, use of open-source software can lead to greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open-source licensors generally do not provide updates, warranties, support, indemnities, assurances of title, or controls on origin of the software. Likewise, some open-source projects have known security and other vulnerabilities and architectural instabilities, or are otherwise subject to security attacks due to their wide availability, and are provided on an “as-is” basis. If we were found to have inappropriately used open-source software, we may be required to take certain remedial actions that may divert resources away from our development efforts, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and growth prospects. In addition, if the open-source software we use is no longer maintained by the relevant developer or open-source community, then it may be more difficult to make the necessary revisions to our software, including modifications to address security vulnerabilities, which could impact our ability to mitigate cybersecurity risks or fulfill our contractual obligations to our customers. We may also face claims from others seeking to enforce the terms of an open-source license, including by demanding release under certain open-source licenses of the open-source software, derivative works or our proprietary source code that was developed using such software. Such claims, with or without
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merit, could result in litigation, could be time-consuming and expensive to settle or litigate, could divert our management’s attention and other resources, could require us to lease some of our proprietary code, or could require us to devote additional R&D resources to modify our technologies, any of which could adversely affect our business.
General Business Risks
The global COVID-19 outbreak has affected our business and operations, and the full extent to which a resurgence of COVID-19 or spread of new infectious diseases will affect us will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be accurately predicted.
In light of the uncertain and continually evolving situation relating to the spread of COVID-19 and the emergence of new variants, we have taken and will continue to take precautionary measures intended to minimize the risk of the virus to our employees, customers, and the communities in which we operate, which may negatively impact our business.
COVID-19 has had a negative impact on certain of our operations, supply chain, vendors, transportation networks and customers. The COVID-19 outbreak is a widespread public health crisis that is adversely affecting economies and financial markets globally. The progression of this pandemic could negatively impact our business or results of operations through the temporary or extended closure of our operating locations or those of our suppliers. In addition, there may be changes in our potential customers’ priorities and practices, as they confront competing budget priorities and limited resources. These changes may impact current and future programs, customer priorities, government payments, and other practices, procurements, and funding decisions. We continue to closely monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on all aspects of our business and geographies, including how it has and will impact our customers, employees, suppliers, vendors, and business partners.
The extent to which any pandemic impacts our business going forward will depend on factors such as the duration and scope of infections, governmental, business, and individuals’ actions in response to the health crisis, and the impact on global supply chains and economic activity including the possibility of financial market instability or recession. How a resurgence of COVID-19 or other potential global pandemics will affect us will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be accurately predicted. To the extent COVID-19 or other widespread outbreaks of infectious disease adversely affects our business operations, liquidity and financial results, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section.
We rely on the significant experience and specialized expertise of our senior management, engineering, sales and operational staff and must retain and attract qualified and highly skilled personnel in order to grow our business successfully. If we are unable to build, expand, and deploy additional management, engineering, sales and operational staff in a timely manner, or if we are unable to hire, retain, train, and motivate such personnel, our growth and long-term success could be adversely impacted.
Our performance is substantially dependent on the continued services and performance of our senior management and our highly qualified team of engineers and data scientists, many of whom have numerous years of experience and specialized expertise in our business and industry. Competition for hiring these employees is intense, especially regarding engineers and data scientists with specialized skills required for our business, and we may be unable to hire and retain enough engineers and data scientists to implement our growth strategy. Maintaining a positive, diverse, and inclusive culture and work environment, offering attractive compensation, benefits and development opportunities, and effectively implementing processes and technology that enable our employees to work effectively are important to our ability to attract and retain employees. If we are not successful in hiring and retaining highly qualified engineers, data scientists and other skilled personnel, we may not be able to extend or maintain our engineering and data science expertise, and our future product development efforts could be adversely affected.
Our future success also depends on the successful execution of our strategy to increase sales to customers, identify and engage new customers, and penetrate the U.S. market and new non-U.S. markets, which will depend on, among other things, our ability to build and expand our sales organization and operations. Identifying, recruiting, training, and managing qualified sales personnel requires significant time, expense, and attention, including from our senior management and other key personnel, which could adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
In addition, our failure to implement adequate succession plans for key executives or the failure of key employees to successfully transition into new roles, for example, as a result of organizational changes and attrition, could have an adverse effect on our businesses and operating results. The unexpected or abrupt departure of one or more of our key
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personnel and the failure to effect smooth key personnel transitions may have an adverse effect on our businesses resulting from the loss of such personnel’s skills, knowledge of our businesses, and years of industry experience. If we cannot effectively manage leadership transitions and management changes in the future, our reputation and future business prospects could be adversely affected.
We may become involved in litigation that may materially adversely affect us.
From time to time, we may become involved in various legal proceedings relating to matters incidental to the ordinary course of our business, including intellectual property, commercial, employment, class action, whistleblower and other litigation and claims, and governmental and other regulatory investigations and proceedings. Such matters can be time-consuming, divert management’s attention and resources, cause us to incur significant expenses or liability or require us to change our business practices. Because of the potential risks, expenses and uncertainties of litigation, we may, from time to time, settle disputes, even where we believe that we have meritorious claims or defenses. Because litigation is inherently unpredictable, we cannot give any assurance that the results of any of these actions will not have a material adverse effect on our business.
Risk Related to being a Public Company
We have incurred and will continue to incur significant expenses and administrative burdens as a public company, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We face a significant increase in insurance, legal, accounting, administrative and other costs and expenses as a public company that we did not incur as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), including the requirements of Section 404 thereof, as well as rules and regulations subsequently implemented by the SEC, the securities exchanges, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) and the rules and regulations promulgated and to be promulgated thereunder, and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ("PCAOB"), together impose additional reporting and other obligations on public companies. Compliance with public company requirements increases costs and make certain activities more time-consuming. A number of those requirements require us to carry out activities we have not done previously. For example, we have created an audit and finance committee, and adopted new internal controls and disclosure controls and procedures. In addition, we have incurred and will continue to incur additional expenses associated with SEC reporting requirements to which we are subject. Furthermore, if any issues in complying with those requirements are identified (for example, if the auditors identify a material weakness or significant deficiency in our internal controls over financial reporting), we could incur additional costs rectifying those issues, and the existence of those issues could adversely affect our reputation or investor perceptions of us. Being a public company could make it more difficult or costly for us to obtain certain types of insurance, including director and officer liability insurance, and we may be forced to accept reduced policy limits and coverage with increased self-retention risk or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. Being a public company could also make it more difficult and expensive for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on the Board, Board committees or as executive officers. Furthermore, if we are unable to satisfy our obligations as a public company, we could be subject to delisting of our Class A ordinary shares or our Public Warrants, fines, sanctions and other regulatory action and potentially civil litigation.
The additional reporting and other obligations imposed by various rules and regulations applicable to public companies will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and the costs of related legal, accounting and administrative activities. These increased costs will require us to divert a significant amount of money and other resources that could otherwise be used to expand the business and achieve strategic objectives. Advocacy efforts by stockholders and third parties may also prompt additional changes in governance and reporting requirements, which could further increase costs.
Our historical financial results may not be indicative of what our actual financial position or results of operations would have been if we were a public company during all periods presented.
Our historical financial results included in this Report do not reflect the financial condition, results of operations or cash flows we would have achieved as a public company during all periods presented or those that we will achieve in the future. Our financial condition and future results of operations could be materially different from amounts reflected in our historical financial statements included elsewhere in this Report, so it may be difficult for investors to compare our future results to historical results or to evaluate our relative performance or trends in our business.
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As a privately held company, we were not required to comply with many corporate governance and financial reporting practices and policies required of a publicly traded company. As a result of the Merger, we are a public company with significant operations, and as such (and particularly after we are no longer an “emerging growth company” or if we lose “foreign private issuer” status), we face increased legal, accounting, administrative and other costs and expenses as a public company that we did not incur as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, including the requirements of Section 404 thereof, as well as rules and regulations implemented by the PCAOB, the SEC and the securities exchanges, impose additional reporting and other obligations on public companies. Compliance with public company requirements will increase costs and make certain activities more time-consuming. A number of those requirements require us to carry out activities we have not done previously. In addition, we have incurred and will continue to incur expenses associated with SEC reporting requirements. Further, if any issues in complying with those requirements are identified (for example, if the auditors identify a significant deficiency or additional material weaknesses in the internal control over financial reporting), we could incur additional costs to rectify those issues, and the existence of those issues could adversely affect our reputation or investor perceptions of us. In addition, we have purchased director and officer liability insurance, which has substantial additional premiums. Advocacy efforts by stockholders and third parties may also prompt additional changes in governance and reporting requirements, which could further increase associated costs. The additional reporting and other obligations associated with being a public company will increase legal and financial compliance costs and the costs of related legal, accounting and administrative activities.
The ability of management to operate the business successfully is largely dependent upon the efforts of certain of our key personnel. The loss of such key personnel could negatively impact our operations and financial results.
Our future performance depends, in significant part, upon the continued service of our senior management team and other key employees. We cannot be certain that we can retain these employees. The loss of services of one or more of these or other key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition if we are unable to secure replacement personnel, either internally or through our recruitment programs and initiatives to secure replacement personnel that have sufficient experience in our industry or in the management of businesses similar to ours. If we fail to develop, compensate, and retain a core group of senior management and other key employees and address issues of succession planning, it could hinder our ability to execute our business strategies.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock and Warrants
The dual class structure of our common stock has the effect of concentrating voting control with certain of our stockholders and limiting our other stockholders’ ability to influence corporate matters and could discourage others from pursuing any change of control transactions that holders of Class A ordinary shares may view as beneficial.
The Class B ordinary shares have a number of votes per share to equal the number of votes controlled by the Liberty Investor, while Class A ordinary shares have one (1) vote per share. Our founder and Chief Executive Officer, Emiliano Kargieman, owns 13,582,642 Class B ordinary shares (which are entitled to 1.472467906 votes per share), granting him 100% of the voting power of the Class B ordinary shares and 20.9% of the voting power of our common stock as of April 17, 2023. This concentrated control may have the effect of delaying, preventing or deterring a change in control of Satellogic, could deprive our stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their capital stock as part of a sale of Satellogic, and might ultimately affect the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, on March 8, 2023, pursuant to the Liberty Letter Agreement, and following the forfeiture of a certain number of Class B shares in connection with the Forfeiture Event under the Merger Agreement as described below, we approved an amendment to our Company Governing Documents (filed as Exhibit 1.1 hereto), pursuant to which the number of votes per Class B ordinary share was increased from 1.463844005 to 1.472467906 in order to make the aggregate number of votes attributable to holders of Class B ordinary shares equal to the aggregate number of votes attributable to the Liberty Shares. This amendment had the impact of reinforcing the voting power and control of Mr. Kargieman, and may result in the continuation of the aforementioned risks to stockholders.
We cannot predict whether the dual class structure of our common stock will result in a lower or more volatile market price of our Class A ordinary shares or in adverse publicity or other adverse consequences. For example, certain index providers have announced restrictions on including companies with multiple class share structures in certain of their indexes. S&P, Dow Jones and FTSE Russell have announced changes to their eligibility criteria for inclusion of shares of public companies on certain indices, including the S&P 500, pursuant to which companies with multiple classes of shares of common stock are excluded. In addition, several stockholder advisory firms have announced their opposition to the use of multiple class structures. As a result, the dual class structure of our common stock may cause stockholder advisory firms to publish negative commentary about our corporate governance practices or otherwise seek to cause us to change our
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capital structure. Any such exclusion from indices or any actions or publications by stockholder advisory firms critical of our corporate governance practices or capital structure could adversely affect the value and trading market of our Class A ordinary shares.
We do not expect to declare any dividends in the foreseeable future.
We do not anticipate declaring any cash dividends to holders of common stock in the foreseeable future. Consequently, investors may need to rely on sales of their shares after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about us, our business, or our market, or if they adversely change their recommendations regarding our securities, the price and trading volume of our securities could decline.
The trading market for our securities may be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us or our business, market, or competitors. Securities and industry analysts do not currently, and may never, publish research on us. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of us, our share price and trading volume would likely be negatively impacted. If any of the analysts who may cover us change their recommendation regarding our common stock adversely, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, the price of our common stock would likely decline. If any analyst who may cover us were to cease such coverage or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.
Following a forfeiture event under the Merger Agreement, certain holders of our Class A ordinary shares may be issued additional Class A ordinary shares if the trading price of the Class A ordinary shares then meets certain earn-out thresholds. Such issuance would dilute existing holders.
Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, certain of our stockholders forfeited for cancellation an aggregate of 310,127 Class A ordinary shares on May 12, 2022, and an equal number of Class A ordinary shares were issued to certain other of our stockholders (the “Forfeiture Event”). However, pursuant to the Merger Agreement, following the Forfeiture Event, if at any time during the five year period following the Closing Date, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares is at or above $15.00 for ten (10) trading days (which need not be consecutive) over a twenty (20) trading day period, the stockholders who had forfeited shares in the Forfeiture Event will then receive a number of newly issued Class A ordinary shares equal to the number of shares that they had previously forfeited, or 310,127 Class A ordinary shares.
There can be no assurance that our Class A ordinary shares or the Warrants will remain listed on Nasdaq, or that we will be able to comply with the continued listing standards of Nasdaq.
If Nasdaq chooses to delist us for failure to meet their listing standards, we and our stockholders could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
•a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;
•reduced liquidity for our securities;
•a determination that our Class A ordinary shares are a “penny stock”, which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;
•a limited amount or absence of news and analyst coverage; and
•a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.
Failure to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and stock price.
The standards required for a public company under Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act are significantly more stringent than those previously required of us as a privately held company. Management may not be able to effectively and
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timely implement controls and procedures that adequately respond to the increased regulatory compliance and reporting requirements that are now applicable to us. If we are not able to implement the additional requirements of Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in a timely manner or fail to adequately comply with those requirements, we may not be able to assess whether our internal controls over financial reporting are effective, which may subject us to adverse regulatory consequences and could harm investor confidence and the market price of our Class A ordinary shares.
Our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act until we file our first Form 20-F following the date on which we cease to qualify as an “emerging growth company,” which may be up to five full fiscal years following the date of the first sale of common equity securities pursuant to an effective registration statement. If such an evaluation were performed, control deficiencies could be identified by our management, and those control deficiencies could also represent one or more material weaknesses. In addition, we cannot predict the outcome of this determination and whether we will need to implement remedial actions in order to implement effective control over financial reporting. If in subsequent years we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our auditors express an opinion that our internal control over financial reporting is ineffective, we may fail to meet the future reporting obligations in a timely and reliable manner and our financial statements may contain material misstatements. Any such failure could also cause our investors to lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which could have a materially adverse effect on the price of our securities.
We are an “emerging growth company” and, as a result of the reduced disclosure and governance requirements applicable to emerging growth companies, our Class A ordinary shares may be less attractive to investors.
We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (“JOBS Act”), and we are taking advantage of some of the exemptions from reporting requirements that are available to emerging growth companies, including not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements in the assessment of our internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
We may take advantage of these reporting exemptions until we are no longer an emerging growth company. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the date of the first sale of common equity securities pursuant to an effective registration statement, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, or (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.
We cannot predict if investors will find our Class A ordinary shares less attractive because we do and will rely on the accommodations and exemptions available to emerging growth companies. If some investors find our Class A ordinary shares less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our Class A ordinary shares and our share price may be more volatile.
Risks Relating to Investment in a BVI Company and Our Status as a Foreign Private Issuer
Because we are incorporated under the laws of the BVI, it may be more difficult for our shareholders to protect their rights than it would if they were stockholders of a corporation incorporated in another jurisdiction.
We are a company incorporated under the laws of the BVI and the majority of our assets are located outside the United States. Furthermore, a number of our directors and a majority of our officers reside outside the United States and a substantial portion of their assets are located outside the United States. As a result, investors may not be able to effect service of process within the United States upon certain of our directors or officers or to enforce against them in U.S. courts judgments predicated upon the civil liability provisions of U.S. federal securities law. Likewise, it may also be difficult for an investor to enforce in U.S. courts judgments obtained against these persons in courts located in jurisdictions outside the United States.
Our corporate affairs are to a large extent governed by our Memorandum and Articles of Association, the BVI Act, and the common law of the BVI. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under BVI law are to a large extent governed by the BVI Act and the common law of the BVI. The common law of the BVI is derived from English common law, and the
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decisions of the English courts are of persuasive authority but are not binding on a court in BVI. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under BVI law may not be as clearly established as they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the BVI has a less developed body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and some states, such as Delaware, have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law.
In addition, BVI law permits the Board to refuse to permit a shareholder to review, copy or inspect certain documents (including register of directors, register of members or minutes and resolutions of shareholders) if the Board believes it would be contrary to our interests to allow review, copy or inspection. This may make it more difficult for shareholders to obtain the information needed to establish any facts necessary for a shareholder motion or to solicit proxies from other shareholders in connection with a proxy contest. Furthermore, while statutory provisions do exist in the BVI law for derivative actions to be brought in certain circumstances, shareholders in BVI companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholder derivative action in a federal court of the United States. The circumstances in which any such action may be brought, and the procedures and defenses that may be available in respect to any such action, may result in the rights of shareholders of a BVI company being more limited than those of shareholders of a company organized in the United States. Accordingly, shareholders may have fewer alternatives available to them if they believe that corporate wrongdoing has occurred.
As a result of all of the above, our public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the Board or controlling stockholders than they would as public shareholders of a U.S. company.
Because we are incorporated under the laws of the BVI, it may be more difficult for our shareholders to enforce judgments against us than it would be if they were stockholders of a corporation incorporated in another jurisdiction.
There is no statutory recognition in the BVI of judgments obtained in the United States, although any final and conclusive monetary judgment for a definite sum obtained against us in U.S. federal or state courts would be treated by the BVI courts as a cause of action in itself and may be sued upon as a debt at common law so that no retrial of the issues would be necessary provided that:
•the U.S. court issuing the judgment had jurisdiction in the matter and we either submitted to such jurisdiction or was resident or carrying on business within such jurisdiction and was duly served with process;
•the judgment given by the U.S. court was not in respect of penalties, taxes, fines or similar fiscal or revenue obligations;
•in obtaining judgment there was no fraud on the part of the person in whose favor judgment was given or on the part of the U.S. court;
•recognition or enforcement of the judgment in the BVI would not be contrary to public policy; and
•the proceedings pursuant to which the judgment was obtained were not contrary to natural justice.
BVI courts are also unlikely to:
•recognize or enforce judgments against us of U.S. courts based on certain civil liability provisions of U.S. securities laws; and
•impose liabilities against us in original actions brought in the BVI, based on certain civil liability provisions of U.S. securities laws that are penal in nature.
There are grounds upon which a BVI court may not enforce the judgments of U.S. courts and some remedies available under the laws of U.S. jurisdictions, including some remedies available under U.S. federal securities laws, may not be permitted under the BVI courts as contrary to public policy in the BVI. Furthermore, no claim may be brought in the BVI by or against us or our directors and officers in the first instance for violation of U.S. federal securities laws because these laws have no extraterritorial application under BVI law and do not have force of law in the BVI. A BVI court, however, may impose civil liability, including the possibility of monetary damages, on us or our directors and officers if the facts alleged in a complaint constitute or give rise to a cause of action under BVI law.
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The rights of our shareholders are not as extensive as those rights of stockholders of U.S. corporations.
The rights of our shareholders are governed by our Company Governing Documents as interpreted in accordance with the laws of the BVI. Where any provision of any contractual arrangement between a shareholder and us or any third party is inconsistent with the provisions of our Company Governing Documents, the shareholder may be unable to claim certain remedies, including specific performance, for our actual or alleged breach of such provision. In addition, principles of BVI corporate law relating to such matters as the validity of a company’s procedures, the fiduciary duties of management and the rights of a company’s shareholders may differ from those that would apply if we were incorporated in a jurisdiction within the United States. Under U.S. law, majority and controlling stockholders generally have certain “fiduciary” responsibilities to the minority stockholders. A U.S. stockholder action must be taken in good faith. Also, actions by controlling stockholders in a U.S. jurisdiction and executive compensation that is obviously unreasonable may be declared null and void. In addition, in the United States, directors generally owe a fiduciary duty to the corporation and its stockholders, including a duty of care, pursuant to which directors must properly apprise themselves of all reasonably available information, and a duty of loyalty, pursuant to which they must protect the interests of the corporation and refrain from conduct that injures the corporation or its stockholders, that deprives the corporation or its stockholders of any profit or advantage or that allows the directors to take advantage of a corporate opportunity for their own benefit. Many U.S. jurisdictions have enacted various statutory provisions which permit the monetary liability of directors to be eliminated or limited. Under BVI law, liability of a director of a company to the company is primarily limited to the duties set out in the memorandum and articles of association, the BVI Act, and the common law of the BVI, as well as additional liability that can arise upon the insolvency of the company.
Further, BVI law may not protect the interests of minority shareholders in BVI corporations to the extent that U.S. laws protect minority stockholders in U.S. corporations. Our shareholders may have difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions by the Board and may have more limited rights than they might have as shareholders of a company incorporated in many U.S. jurisdictions.
As a foreign private issuer, we are exempt from a number of U.S. securities laws and rules promulgated thereunder and are permitted to publicly disclose less information than U.S. public companies must. This may limit the information available to holders of our Class A ordinary shares.
We qualify as a “foreign private issuer,” as defined in the SEC’s rules and regulations. Consequently, we are not subject to all of the disclosure requirements applicable to public companies organized within the United States. For example, we are exempt from certain rules under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), that regulate disclosure obligations and procedural requirements related to the solicitation of proxies, consents or authorizations applicable to a security registered under the Exchange Act. In addition, our officers and directors are exempt from the reporting and “short-swing” profit recovery provisions of Section 16 of the Exchange Act and related rules with respect to their purchases and sales of our securities. For example, some of our key executives may sell a significant amount of common stock and such sales will not be required to be disclosed as promptly as such sales would need to be disclosed by a public company organized within the United States. Accordingly, once such sales are eventually disclosed, the price of our Class A ordinary shares may significantly decline. Moreover, we are not required to file periodic reports and financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as U.S. public companies. We are also not subject to Regulation FD under the Exchange Act, which would prohibit us from selectively disclosing material nonpublic information to certain persons without concurrently making a widespread public disclosure of such information. Accordingly, there may be less publicly available information concerning us than there is for U.S. public companies.
As a foreign private issuer, we will file an annual report on Form 20-F within four months of the close of each fiscal year ended December 31 and furnish reports on Form 6-K relating to certain material events promptly after we publicly announce these events. However, because of the above exemptions for foreign private issuers, which we intend to rely on, our stockholders will not be afforded the same information generally available to investors holding shares in public companies that are not foreign private issuers. The determination of foreign private issuer status is made annually on the last business day of an issuer’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, and, accordingly, the next determination will be made with respect to our foreign private issuer status on June 30, 2023.
In the future, we could lose our foreign private issuer status if a majority of shares of our common stock is held by residents in the United States and we fail to meet any one of the additional “business contacts” requirements. Although we intend to follow certain practices that are consistent with U.S. regulatory provisions applicable to U.S. companies, our loss of foreign private issuer status would make such provisions mandatory. If we are deemed a U.S. domestic issuer, the regulatory and compliance costs to us under U.S. securities laws may be significantly higher. If we are not a foreign private issuer, we will be required to file periodic reports and prospectuses with the SEC on U.S. domestic issuer forms, which are
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more detailed and extensive than the forms available to a foreign private issuer, and we would not be entitled to the exemptions discussed above. We also may be required to modify certain of our policies to comply with good governance practices associated with U.S. domestic issuers. Such conversion and modifications may involve additional costs.
In addition, we may lose our ability to rely upon exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq that are available to foreign private issuers. For example, Nasdaq’s corporate governance rules require listed companies to have, among other things, a majority of independent board members and independent director oversight of executive compensation, nomination of directors, and corporate governance matters. Nasdaq rules also require stockholder approval of certain share issuances, including approval of equity compensation plans. As a foreign private issuer, we are permitted to follow home country practice in lieu of the above requirements. As long as we rely on the foreign private issuer exemption from certain of Nasdaq’s corporate governance standards, a majority of the directors on the Board are not required to be independent directors, we are not required to have a compensation committee, we are not required to have a nominating and corporate governance committee composed entirely of independent directors and we are not required to obtain stockholder approval of equity incentive plans. So long as we take advantage of these foreign private issuer exemptions, our stockholders will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all the Nasdaq corporate governance standards. If we lose our foreign private issuer status and fail to comply with U.S. securities laws applicable to U.S. domestic issuers, we may have to delist from Nasdaq and could be subject to investigation by the SEC, Nasdaq and other regulators, among other materially adverse consequences.
Risks Related to U.S. Federal Income Taxation
If we are a passive foreign investment company for U.S. federal income tax purposes for any taxable year, U.S. holders of our Class A ordinary shares or Warrants to acquire our Class A ordinary shares could be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.
If we are or become a “passive foreign investment company,” or a PFIC, within the meaning of Section 1297 of the Code for any taxable year during which a U.S. holder (as defined under “Item 10. Additional Information—E. Taxation—U.S. Federal Income Taxation”) hold our Class A ordinary shares or Warrants to acquire our Class A ordinary shares, certain adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences may apply to such U.S. holder. A non-U.S. corporation, such as us, will be classified as a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes for any taxable year in which, after applying certain look-through rules, either (i) 75% or more of our gross income for such year consists of certain types of “passive” income or (ii) 50% or more of the value of our assets (determined on the basis of a quarterly average) during such year produce or are held for the production of passive income. Passive income generally includes dividends, interest, royalties, rents, annuities, net gains from the sale or exchange of property producing such income and net foreign currency gains. PFIC status depends on the composition of a company’s income and assets and the fair market value of such assets from time to time, as well as on the application of complex statutory and regulatory rules that are subject to potentially varying or changing interpretations.
Within 120 days after the end of each of our taxable years for which we reasonably believe that we may be a PFIC, we will determine our PFIC status and the PFIC status of each of our non-U.S. subsidiaries, if applicable, and make those statuses available to our stockholders. If we determine that we were, or could reasonably be deemed to have been, a PFIC for any taxable year, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to provide, and cause our non-U.S. subsidiaries that are PFICs to provide, U.S. holders with tax information necessary to enable a U.S. holder to make a qualified electing fund, or QEF, election with respect to us and our non-U.S. subsidiaries, including a PFIC Annual Information Statement. Our obligation to determine our PFIC status and the PFIC status of each of our non-U.S. subsidiaries, and our obligation to provide tax information, will last until the later of (a) five years after the end of our current taxable year, or (b) such time as we have reasonably determined that we are not a PFIC for three (3) consecutive taxable years. After such period, we currently intend to continue to determine our PFIC status and the PFIC status of each of our non-U.S. subsidiaries, and to provide the necessary information described above (including a PFIC Annual Information Statement), but there can be no assurance that we will in fact make those determinations or provide the necessary information.
If we are treated as a PFIC in any taxable year in which a U.S. holder holds our Class A ordinary shares or Warrants to acquire our Class A ordinary shares, the U.S. holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences, such as taxation at the highest marginal ordinary income tax rates on capital gains and on certain actual or deemed distributions, interest charges on certain taxes treated as deferred, and additional reporting requirements. See “Item 10. Additional Information—E. Taxation—U.S. Federal Income Taxation—U.S. Holders—Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules.” U.S. holders of our Class A ordinary shares and Warrants to acquire our Class A ordinary shares should consult with their tax advisors regarding the potential application of these rules.
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ITEM 4. INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY
A. History and Development of the Company
We were incorporated under the laws of the BVI on June 29, 2021, solely for the purpose of effectuating the Merger, which was consummated on January 25, 2022. See “Merger Transaction” below for further details of the Merger. We own no material assets other than our interests in Nettar and do not operate any business other than through Nettar, our wholly owned subsidiary. Nettar is a BVI business company incorporated in the BVI as a company limited by share. See Item 5 “Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” for a discussion of Nettar’s principal capital expenditures for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021. Except for the construction of the high-throughput plant in the Netherlands, the timing of which is currently uncertain, and except for capital expenditures in the ordinary course of business, there are no other material capital expenditures or divestitures currently in progress as of the date of this Report.
Nettar is the holding company of the Satellogic Group prior to the Merger and was incorporated on October 7, 2014, under the laws of the BVI as an International Business Company.
The mailing address of our principal executive office is Ruta 8 Km 17,500, Edificio 300 Oficina 324 Zonamérica Montevideo, 91600, Uruguay and our telephone number is 00-598-25182302. Our registered office in the BVI is: c/o Maples Corporate Services (BVI) Limited, Kingston Chambers, PO Box 173, Road Town, Tortola, VG1110, British Virgin Islands. Our registered agent in the BVI is Maples Corporate Services (BVI) Limited. Our principal website address is www.satellogic.com. The information contained on, or accessible through, our website is not incorporated by reference into this Report, and you should not consider it a part of this Report.
Our strategy historically consisted of two unique business lines: Asset Monitoring and Constellation-as-a-Service (“CaaS”). Our Asset Monitoring business involves both government and commercial customers tasking our satellites around the world with monitoring assets and keeping up with their changing reality. Our CaaS business offers governments around the world the ability to control satellites on top of specific areas of interest. In 2022, we established a new business line, Space Systems, which involves satellite sales and support, to meet the needs of customers interested in our technology and capability that also have a need or desire to own the satellites being utilized to collect data.
On May 6, 2022, we entered into an Investment Agreement with Officina Stellare S.p.A. (“OS”), a company engaged in the design and production of telescopes and opto-mechanical and aerospace instrumentation for ground and space-based applications, to purchase 5% of OS’s outstanding common shares for $3.6 million. Additionally, OS issued 524,715 stock warrants, giving us the right to convert each warrant into a single common share over a period of up to 36 months. Emiliano Kargieman, our Chief Executive Officer, was appointed to the OS board of directors. The investment was completed on September 30, 2022. OS is also a supplier of telescopes to the Company.
In January 2021, we signed a Rideshare Multi-Launch Agreement with SpaceX, our preferred rideshare launch provider, and in April 2022, we secured launch capacity for our next 68 launches with SpaceX via the SpaceX Agreement, and we continue to work with SpaceX to schedule upcoming satellite launches.
We are subject to certain of the informational filing requirements of the Exchange Act. Since we are a “foreign private issuer,” our officers, directors and principal shareholders are exempt from the reporting and “short-swing” profit recovery provisions contained in Section 16 of the Exchange Act with respect to their purchase and sale of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, we are not required to file reports and financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as U.S. public companies whose securities are registered under the Exchange Act. However, we are required to file with the SEC an Annual Report on Form 20-F containing financial statements audited by an independent accounting firm. The SEC also maintains a website at http://www.sec.gov that contains reports and other information that we file with or furnish electronically to the SEC.
Merger Transaction
On January 25, 2022 (the “Closing Date”), Satellogic Inc. (“Satellogic”), a BVI business company incorporated in the BVI as a company limited by shares, consummated the transactions contemplated by the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated as of July 5, 2021 (the “Merger Agreement” ), by and among Satellogic, CF V, a Delaware corporation, now known as “Satellogic V Inc., Ganymede Merger Sub 1 Inc., a BVI business company incorporated in the BVI as a company limited by shares and a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Satellogic, Ganymede Merger Sub 2 Inc., a Delaware corporation and a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Satellogic.
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The Merger resulted in cash proceeds of $168 million, after transaction expenses and debt repayment, through the contribution of cash held in CF V’s trust account, net of redemptions by CF V’s public stockholders, and a concurrent PIPE offering led by SoftBank’s SBLA Advisers Corp. and CF&Co., among other institutional investors, together with the Liberty Investment. See Note 4 (Reverse Recapitalization) to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional details.
On January 26, 2022, Satellogic’s Class A ordinary shares began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "SATL" and our warrants began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "SATLW".
B. Business Overview
Company Overview
Our predecessor in interest was founded in 2010 and we were founded in 2014 to help solve some of the greatest challenges of our time: resource utilization and distribution. From tradeoffs between food, energy and water supplies, to monitoring the impact of natural disasters, global health and humanitarian crises in the midst of a looming climate emergency, access to a continually refreshed source of global, high-quality data is critical to confronting some of the world’s most crucial issues. We are committed to creating a fully automated and searchable earth observation (“EO”) catalog, and we believe we are uniquely positioned to provide the data that is critical to better inform decision-making aimed at addressing these challenges.
We are the first vertically integrated geospatial analytics company, and we are building the first scalable, fully automated EO platform with the ability, when scaled, to remap the entire planet at both high-frequency and high-resolution, providing accessible and affordable solutions for our customers. We plan to democratize access to geospatial data by providing planetary insights at what we believe to be the lowest cost in the industry, ultimately driving better decision-making across a broad range of industries including agriculture, forestry, energy, financial services, and cartography.
We have created a highly scalable, vertically integrated and competitive operating model. We design the core components that go into developing and manufacturing our satellites to be mission specific. We manufacture many of our components, but we also partner with third parties to manufacture certain other components to our design specifications. We assemble, integrate and test the components and satellites in our facilities. This vertical integration provides a significant cost advantage, enabling us to produce and launch satellites for less than one-tenth the cost of our competitors on average. Additionally, we own all our key intellectual property, and our patented technology allows us to capture approximately 10x more imagery than our competitors on average. Taken together, we are achieving over 60x better unit economics than our closest peers in the NewSpace sector and more than 100x better unit economics than legacy competitors. Additionally, we are well-positioned to compete effectively in the existing EO market that is currently supply-constrained and consists primarily of government and D&I customers. At December 31, 2022, we had 26 commercial satellites in orbit, which has increased to 34 as of the date of this report as a result of the successful launches of four additional satellites on January 2, 2023 and April 14, 2023, respectively. Of our 34 satellites in orbit as of the date of this report, 29 are presently delivering multispectral imagery and/or hyperspectral imagery, four are in the process of being commissioned and one is used for testing. Over the near term, we will take a measured approach to expanding our constellation, with our long term vision to reach a constellation size of approximately 200 satellites and to have the capability to conduct daily remaps of the entire planet.
Our current strategy is focused along three distinct business lines: Asset Monitoring, CaaS, and Space Systems. These business lines will allow us to serve the existing EO market and begin to democratize access to a host of new EO customers.
We expect that our Asset Monitoring business will represent the most predictable revenue stream, and we anticipate that it will be among the primary drivers of the business going forward. Every day, both government and commercial customers task our satellites around the world to monitor assets and to keep up with their changing reality. D&I customers look at ports, airfields or build-up of military equipment; mining companies monitor the environmental impact of their operations; and insurance companies are interested in building baselines and quickly assessing property damage as it occurs. With the largest available sub-meter capacity, high quality imagery and superior unit economics, we can support a growing number of customers around the world.
Our CaaS business – that we previously referred to as Dedicated Satellite Constellation – offers governments around the world the ability to control satellites on top of specific areas of interest. We expect our CaaS model to become the preferred way to securely operate sovereign, autonomous capacity, complementing and increasingly replacing national EO satellites. We anticipate that our CaaS line of business will provide us with a strong recurring-revenue base in the government and D&I market over time.
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In 2022, we established Space Systems, effectively satellite sales and support, to meet the needs of customers interested in our technology and capability that have a need or desire to own the satellites being utilized to capture imagery. As such, Space Systems leverages our ability to quickly build and launch high quality, sub-meter satellites at a low cost, to meet the needs of these customers. We have built a vertically integrated satellite manufacturing capability that is critical in achieving our low-CAPEX cost and ultimately reaching our unit-economic targets for our Asset Monitoring business. Vertical integration enables us to manage our supply chain and navigate recent global supply issues without affecting our satellite launch schedule. Our fast build-to-launch cycles for our satellites can progress from purchase order to commissioning in orbit in as little as eight months.
Currently, our revenue is derived primarily from selling imagery through our Asset Monitoring and CaaS lines of business. There were no revenues in 2020.
Information (in thousands) about our revenue by geography is as follows:
| Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | ||||||||||
Revenue by geography (1) | |||||||||||
| Asia Pacific | $ | 1,531 | $ | 3,988 | |||||||
| North America | 3,438 | 201 | |||||||||
| Other | 1,043 | 58 | |||||||||
| Total revenue | $ | 6,012 | $ | 4,247 | |||||||
(1)Revenue by geography is based on the geographical location of the customer.
Market Overview
Existing terrestrial methods and high-resolution satellites utilized for obtaining EO imagery have several critical shortcomings and have had limited commercial applicability to date. The manner in which actionable data is collected is extremely inefficient. Whether by helicopters, drones, planes, Internet of Things (“IoT”) sensor networks, or what we most commonly do, the boots-on-the-ground, data collection today is extremely inefficient and very costly and not scalable.
Satellites in LEO are, in fact, particularly well-positioned to collect data over the surface of the earth. A satellite will orbit the planet every ninety minutes, and the earth is spinning under it, so a single satellite will eventually remap the entire surface of the earth—adding a constellation of these satellites increases the frequency of remaps.
The existing high-resolution EO satellites, our legacy competitors, are not well-suited to do this because the technology they are utilizing is simply too expensive and the economic use case, we believe, is not viable for broad, commercial application. Our legacy competitors must task their satellites for specific customer demands and price the imagery relative to the cost of the underlying satellite, which is quite expensive. Thus the existing EO market is relatively small and generally limited to governments and D&I customers that can afford to pay the price charged by our competitors.
We operate in the “NewSpace” sector, which refers to the increased commercialization and privatization of the space sector. There are a few NewSpace companies trying to build satellites for imaging at a low cost, but they essentially fall into two categories: they either do not have sufficient resolution or they are forced to effectively trade resolution for capacity. In either case, they are limited in terms of image capture and thereby unable to remap the entire surface of the earth at high resolution with unit economics that are competitive with our own. We believe we have addressed these problems through technology innovation and vertical integration.
Over the long term, we plan to leverage our superior unit economics and put enough satellites in orbit to remap the entire surface of the earth in high-resolution on a daily basis and, in doing so, we expect to completely reshape the business model for high resolution EO as well as a number of adjacent or alternative technologies being utilized today that are considerably less efficient (e.g., drones, helicopters, planes). By remapping the entire world every day, we will be able to deliver our data to customers at near zero marginal cost. This will effectively allow us to price our data based upon the value we create in each customer’s value chain as opposed to the current model whereby the pricing is inextricably linked to the high cost of the satellite. This is what we believe will allow us to expand the market for high resolution EO and tap into an estimated $140 billion market opportunity.
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Beyond the EO market opportunity we have also begun to focus on addressing the growing market of satellite manufacturing and sales. This global market opportunity spans across both government and commercial organizations. Within the government segment, the opportunity covers both civil and unclassified defense programs. Research suggests there are approximately 80 countries and approximately 80 commercial organizations with investments into EO related programs. A leading research firm assessed the market value of global satellite manufacturing and sales to be approximately $76 billion between 2021 - 2030.
Competitive Advantage
We believe that we are well-positioned to compete with legacy satellite providers and NewSpace geospatial data providers. Our competitive advantages revolve around unit economics, design and technology, vertically integrated structure, efficient build-to-launch cycle, and high frequency remaps. Key elements of our competitive advantages include the following:
•Superior Unit Economics. With estimated 60 to 120 times better unit economics than our competitors, we plan to put enough satellites in orbit to collect data over the entire surface of the planet continuously, first with weekly and eventually daily remaps, and deliver this data to customers at near zero marginal costs. By delivering data to customers at near zero marginal cost, we expect to be able to price our services based on the value that we create for our customers within their value chain and not on the cost of data acquisition (e.g., satellite cost, launch). This is a critical element of our business model and what we believe to be a paradigm shift in high resolution EO imagery that is made possible by our superior unit economics.
•Superior design and technology. The principal challenge associated with collecting well-exposed, high-resolution imagery from orbit is that the satellite is moving at approximately 27,000 kilometers per hour (or seven kilometers per second). Legacy satellite operators have solved this problem by using a telescope with a very large aperture that allows them to collect well-exposed images that have no blur. These satellites are extremely expensive to build and launch. Conversely, our NewSpace competitors attempt to solve this problem with a small platform relying on a series of methods that will ultimately drive a trade-off between the resolution achieved and the capture capability. This is why our NewSpace competitors are only able to capture approximately one-tenth of data per day per satellite in comparison to our satellites. Our solution to this challenge is centered around our patented and unique camera design that utilizes adaptive optics allowing us to collect approximately 10 times more data from orbit than any of our competitors using a very small aperture. Additionally, our camera design has afforded us the ability to create a compact satellite design resulting in three times lower mass and lower launch costs when compared to one of our NewSpace competitors.
•Vertically integrated. We are a vertically integrated company, and we design our satellites and all of their subsystems, including onboard computers, propulsion system, telescopes, cameras, radios, sensors and actuators. We manufacture many of our components, but we also partner with third parties to manufacture certain other components to our design specifications. We then assemble, integrate and test the components and satellites in our facilities. By designing every core component with our specific mission in mind (as compared to sourcing non-mission specific components built for a wide range of applications as our competitors do), we lower the cost of our materials by a factor of 10x. Our cost to deploy a high-resolution imaging satellite in orbit today, including launch costs, is approximately $1 million compared to our NewSpace competitors’ average cost of approximately $10 million with an average of 10x less capacity.
•Efficient build-to-launch cycle. Our fast build-to-launch cycles allow us to go from a signed contract to a satellite delivered in orbit in less than eight months, a first in this industry. The fast turn-around and the appealing technical characteristics of our satellites paired with their low cost create a valuable alternative for customers looking to increase their in-orbit capacity quickly, or for customers looking to build an inventory of assets to lower response times in the face of emergency.
•High frequency remaps. When we reach weekly remaps, we expect to provide approximately 80% of the global supply of high-resolution imagery in the market at near zero marginal cost, effectively consolidating supply, which will allow us to also consolidate demand on our platform. We believe this will create a significant disincentive for any competitor to build infrastructure to do the same. In addition, we believe that the archive of everything that is happening on the planet on a daily basis, in high resolution, will allow us, our partners and customers to train better artificial intelligence (“AI”) algorithms. By doing so, we expect to serve customers on a larger scale which will allow for the improvement of these algorithms at a faster pace, thereby creating a network effect on the accumulation of archived data that we plan to build in our catalog.
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We believe that these characteristics—the near zero marginal cost for data distribution, the consolidation of demand on the network and the network effects on the accumulation of data in our catalog—will uniquely position us to capitalize on the significant total addressable market (“TAM”) opportunities.
Growth Strategies
We plan to democratize access to geospatial data by providing planetary insights at what we believe to be the lowest cost in the industry, which we expect will ultimately drive better decision-making across a broad range of industries. Our growth strategy is driven by the following objectives:
•Leverage expertise in low-cost manufacturing of EO satellites for sale into high-growth government markets across Asia, Africa, Middle East and South America.
•Expand the high resolution EO market and democratize access to data for the commercial market.
•Continue investment in R&D to innovate product offerings and satellite re-design.
•Leverage our modular satellite design, multiple-payload systems, scaled manufacturing and satellite operations to deliver novel data streams and services from orbit.
•Execute strategic acquisitions and partnerships related to new, complimentary or adjacent technologies as well as continued vertical integration within our existing supply chain.
Through our products and service offerings, we intend to derive substantially all of our near-term revenues by providing geospatial intelligence, imagery, satellite sales and related services to governments. In the longer-term, we intend to expand our operations to serve commercial customers in a variety of markets and industries. For additional detail, see Item 4.A “Commercial Platforms”.
Existing high-resolution EO market (Government and D&I)
The receipt of government and D&I contracts is part of our growth strategy. The existing high-resolution EO market is predominantly composed of government and D&I customers. We can serve these customers today with our fleet of 34 satellites currently in orbit which have been brought online since November 2020, of which 29 satellites are currently operational, four of which are in the commissioning stage and one being used for testing. The existing high-resolution EO market is supply-limited as a consequence of global capacity constraints and increasing demand. As a result, we have been successful in building a strong pipeline for the existing EO market. Our pipeline consists of contracts which are in negotiations or early discussions, and we can offer no assurances that such negotiations or discussions will result in a signed contract or any revenue. Many of these customers tend to buy through large, multi-year contracts and typically through a multi-step, outbound sales cycle.
We believe that most of these customers are interested in data that can be delivered with low latency and very high quality across our three lines of business, which we are well positioned to deliver.
We are approaching this market through direct sales as well as a network of distributors and partnerships in strategic regions across the globe. While we expect this market will reflect the majority of our revenue for the next two to three years and provide operational cash flow to assist in financing our constellation, we expect that our commercial platform will ultimately be significantly larger as we scale up our constellation due simply to its larger TAM.
Space Systems, our new line of business which we believe presents a substantial growth opportunity, is designed to enable us to sell our satellites directly to select customers to whom satellite ownership is important. We believe our strong intellectual property and technology portfolio, fast build-to-launch cycles, and lower cost of ownership, provides an attractive offer for our customers looking to increase their in-orbit capacity quickly, or for customers looking to build an inventory of assets to lower response times in the face of an emergency. Although this new line of business has inherent risks as discussed in Item 3.D “Risk Factors,” we believe that Space Systems will enhance our ability to effectively compete in the existing EO market.
Commercial Platform
Our longer term strategy focuses on our commercial platform, which we expect will take full advantage of our constellation’s ability to capture high-resolution imagery at near zero marginal cost and build a catalog of the entire planet beginning with monthly remaps and progress first towards weekly remaps and, ultimately, daily remaps. This is a Software as a Service (“SaaS”) platform through which we plan to offer customers the ability to purchase imagery and data analytics
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specific to their vertical market (e.g., agriculture, forestry, energy, financial services, cartography). We expect our SaaS economics will allow us to charge customers according to the value our data provides within each customer’s value chain, whether that is a multi-billion-dollar energy company or a farmer in the Midwestern region of the United States. We expect this platform will allow us to expand the current addressable market for high-resolution EO data and unlock a significant TAM opportunity. As our business develops and governmental and D&I customers become a smaller percentage of our customer base, we expect the commercial platform will constitute the majority of our revenues by 2025 and grow to 80 to 90% of our business in the long-term.
We have conducted a number of pilot trials that we believe validate our solutions in a variety of verticals, including agriculture, forestry, energy and infrastructure. These trials demonstrated that our solutions can successfully replace other sources of data being provided by airplanes, drones, helicopters, IoT sensor networks, etc. and that these customers are willing to purchase the data we collect at an attractive price point for our solutions. We have used this information from these pilot trials to identify an immediately addressable market which we believe will be approximately $40 billion in size once we reach weekly remaps.
Commercial Market Opportunities
Use cases for this immediately addressable market might include:
•Monitoring hydroelectric plants in high frequency to build predictive models of energy output as well as drainage in the reservoir from the surrounding basin
•Oil field and pipeline monitoring
•Precision agriculture
•Supply chain management (agriculture)
•Tree counting (forestry)
•Crop management (agriculture & forestry)
•Planning for renewable energy projects
•Precise estimation of commodities output
•Yield prediction and harvesting (agriculture & forestry)
•Energy output
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•Mineral output
•Geospatial risk modeling (e.g., flood, drought, fire, environmental)
•Real time impact assessment, disaster management and claims estimation (e.g., storm damage, earthquakes, forest fires, oil spills)
•Real time planetary health
•Sea level, temperature and acidity
•Fractures in polar ice caps
•Global temperature
•Water distribution
•Monitoring illegal activities (e.g., deforestation, mining, poaching, smuggling)
We believe the key to unlocking this TAM lies in the ability to monitor the planet at both high resolution and high frequency and deliver this data to customers at the right price. Overall, this is how we see the market growing as we increase the frequency of data that once scaled, we expect to deliver at near zero marginal costs.
We plan to deliver our commercial data through our self-service platform and other third-party platforms via a subscription that reflects the end use of the data (vertical) and intrinsic value (geography, freshness) of the data, bundling analytics-ready data with vertical-specific semantic layers to enable quick integration of the data into our customers’ and partners’ processes, thereby enabling faster adoption. We believe this strategy will allow customers to quickly advance their own geospatial analytics capacity by leveraging a productized version of our data layers and data platform. Beyond raw imagery data and other sources of data that we can collect from our satellites, we are building a catalog of geospatial layers from other sources, and processing and augmenting all of these to produce a growing set of derived layers, with increasing complexity and value-add, that are made available as data-services to our customers. Our approach will allow us, our partners and customers to prototype and iterate on geospatial AI/Machine Learning models trained on our unique datasets, and then quickly roll out results into production systems. We intend to commercialize this platform and allow clients to use it to address their needs on their own.
Target commercial customers for our data are companies with their own internal geospatial analytics needs and capabilities as well as value-added service providers serving corporate and government customers worldwide from marketplaces to analytics providers. Subscriptions to the platform will be driven by the demand for our unique data set of high-resolution daily captures and derived insights. We plan to combine direct sales efforts to large customers in target verticals with partnerships with geospatial service providers and imagery data distributors to reach the long tail of geospatial data and analytics consumers. We expect that as our constellation grows and affordable high-resolution imagery and its derivatives become more frequent, new applications and markets will be created.
Driven by our unique, sub-meter resolution, we believe our data sets when scaled will cover up to 80% of the requirements of our target markets, and we expect our commercial platform to become the industry standard for consuming and implementing geospatial analysis, which will give us the leverage to consolidate an increasing number of data sources from third-parties (e.g., satellites, drones, IoT data) and our own data generation efforts (from multi-spectral imagery to hyperspectral imagery to spectrum monitoring and data collection).
Seasonality
We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, seasonality in our business and fluctuations in our operating results due to customer behavior, buying patterns and usage-based contracts. For example, we typically have customers who increase their usage of our data services when they need more frequent data monitoring over broader areas during peak agricultural seasons, during natural disasters or other global events, or when commodity prices are at certain levels.
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Operations
Overview
•Design through launch
•Fast iteration between product innovation, production and launch
•Owning the design to manufacturing helps eliminate third-party costs
•In-orbit operations
•Own and control data capture of the earth’s surface
•Utilize third-party ground station infrastructure to reduce costs
•Imagery and Solutions commercialization
•Capture and own high-resolution total earth imagery. Unconstrained use of imagery
•Use internal data science capabilities to transform images into insights
We believe that vertical integration across design, manufacturing and operations produces efficiencies up and down the value chain, which allows us to reduce intermediary costs, control quality and scale up more quickly.
Human Capital
As of December 31, 2022, we had 382 full-time employees globally, which includes 186 employees in Argentina (mostly involved in R&D, finance, and accounting), 69 in Uruguay (mostly involved in manufacturing), 61 in Spain, 33 in the U.S. and 33 in other countries. In response to changes in the global economic outlook, we initiated a process to reduce our headcount by approximately 18% in the third quarter of 2022. This reduction in 2022 was followed by an additional headcount reduction of approximately 8% in the first quarter of 2023.
We have always focused on attracting and retaining the best talent with the highest possible cultural alignment. Our geographically-distributed nature is a core tenet that reaches back to the earliest days of Satellogic; well in advance of COVID-19 that required many employers to react and respond to remote working environments. Our diverse group of employees earnestly shares these common values:
•Get it done. Our relentless commitment to hold ourselves accountable and deliver true value.
•Be purpose driven. Our intrinsic motivation to make the impossible possible.
•Never stop learning. Being intellectually curious, open-minded, and learning from others.
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•Push the limits. Challenge the status quo, leave your comfort zone and tackle impossible challenges.
•Go beyond ego. Be humble, honest, empathetic and build together for our company, our community and our planet.
At Satellogic, these values precede traditional performance measures when assessing a person’s fit with us. Our vision inherently challenges conventions, and thus requires a special kind of spirit not only to succeed, but even to take on these challenges in the first place. This approach to human capital has enabled us to grow while keeping our core spirit and sense of purpose throughout the twists and turns of our life cycle.
We are committed to developing all of our people in different dimensions, including programmatic leadership, people leadership, business leadership and technological leadership. We actively promote a trust-based organization and a safe environment for risk taking by providing effective mentorship and expecting people to “disagree and commit”.
During the early years of our company, the founders and the senior leaders were the torchbearers of these values and culture, but our expectation is that every leader, which is to say every employee, subscribes to and lives by these values every day.
None of our employees are represented by a labor union, though in some countries our employees may be subject to industry-wide collective bargaining agreements as a matter of law. We have not had any work stoppages and consider our relations with our employees to be good.
Facilities
We operate out of our headquarters in a free trade zone, Zonamerica, in Montevideo, Uruguay, which consists of approximately 7,500 square feet of office space and an approximately 11,200 square foot manufacturing pilot plant, with an annual production capacity of approximately 24 satellites. Each of our 34 satellites in orbit today was manufactured, assembled, integrated and tested in this facility, which is leased pursuant to multi-year lease agreements scheduled to expire in October 2025. We also have plans for a high-throughput plant in the Netherlands. We recently delayed the launch of this plant in favor of upgrading our existing manufacturing facility in Uruguay, in order to handle our current production needs. Although plans for the launch of this plant are currently pending, we believe that locating our new plant in the Netherlands, once operational, will have a variety of strategic advantages, including the availability of a skilled workforce and the proximity to customers and suppliers.
In addition, we maintain approximately 13,000 square feet of aggregate space dedicated to administrative, finance, sales, marketing and R&D functions in Buenos Aires, Argentina (R&D and administrative), Córdoba, Argentina (R&D), Barcelona, Spain (R&D), Tel Aviv, Israel (R&D), and Davidson, North Carolina, United States (finance, sales and marketing).
Sales and Marketing
To date, our sales teams have focused on governmental D&I customer opportunities. Since developing and launching our initial constellation of satellites during 2020, we have significantly accelerated our sales and marketing efforts to government D&I agencies, emphasizing relatively new participants in the existing market. We plan to focus our marketing efforts to increase demand for our products and services and awareness of our brand among these agencies.
To better serve the government and D&I vertical, we plan to continue developing our tasking and delivery web-based platform to support distributors, up-sales and increased pricing and capacity transparency in the market.
Customers
In the near term, we intend to derive our revenue from providing geospatial intelligence, imagery and satellite sales, and related services to governments. In the longer-term, we intend to expand our operations to serve commercial customers in a variety of markets and industries.
We are currently dependent on two commercial contracts in addition to a small number of other customers for our revenue. In November 2021, we entered into a five-year noncancellable agreement with a technology company that requires the customer to purchase a minimum of $4.0 million of multispectral, hyperspectral, full-motion video and private delivery uplift products each year. The customer pays us in non-cash consideration in the form of a license to a proprietary
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software platform, which we use for internal operations. During 2022, we recognized $3.4 million in revenue from this customer.
On September 29, 2022, we entered into a $5.7 million, three-year, constellation-as-a-service agreement. Recognition of revenue under this contract is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2023 with the initiation of service.
Supply Chain
Our business is generally engaged in manufacturing activities and has near-term exposure to fluctuations in the supply of raw materials. We design the systems, subsystems and core components and technologies that go into creating and manufacturing our satellites. We manufacture many of our components, but we also partner with third parties to manufacture certain other components to our design specifications. We then assemble, integrate and test the components and satellites in our facilities. We have a global supply chain of upstream and downstream partners including manufacturers, suppliers and launch providers from a number of countries including the United States. Certain aspects of our manufacturing activities require relatively scarce raw materials or specialty component parts; occasionally, we have experienced difficulty in our ability to procure raw materials, components, sub-assemblies and other supplies required in our manufacturing processes. We bear some risk of supply chain delivery issues and price increases on account of the structure of our vendor contracts.
On January 17 2022, we entered into a master supply agreement with a related party, OS, a company engaged in the design and production of telescopes and opto-mechanical and aerospace instrumentation for ground and space-based applications. This agreement with OS is aimed at regulating the terms and conditions under which we will purchase from OS, and OS will sell or provide to the us, certain products and ancillary services to be integrated into our satellites.
See Item 7.B “Related Party Transactions” for further information regarding the related party transaction with OS.
Launch Providers
With respect to launch providers, our partner selection process typically revolves around availability and cost. In January 2021, we signed a Rideshare Multi-Launch Agreement with SpaceX, our preferred rideshare launch provider, and we expect to continue our launch program with them for the foreseeable future. In April 2022, we secured launch capacity for our next 68 launches with SpaceX, via the SpaceX Agreement and we continue to work with this rideshare launch provider to schedule upcoming satellite launches.
For every launch, a joint launch campaign is performed at the launch provider’s facility that includes our team, the launch service provider and, in some cases, a third-party separation systems supplier. We provide all the necessary equipment and personnel to test and prepare the satellites for launch while the launch service provider and, if applicable, the third-party separation systems supplier, provide the necessary machinery and personnel to integrate the satellites into the launch vehicle. Once these joint operations are complete, the launch service supplier executes the launch and delivers the satellites into the desired orbit, and we begin the regular, in-orbit operations.
Ground Station and Cloud Storage Infrastructure
We primarily utilize third parties today for ground station, processing, and storage infrastructure. As our business grows, we will continue to monitor the advantages and disadvantages of our outsourced model and may decide to vertically integrate one of more of these functions in the future.
Satellites and Technology
We are a vertically integrated company that designs, manufactures, integrates and operates our own high-resolution imaging satellites, and the image processing pipeline necessary to deliver services to our customers, including images and value-added layers of semantic data. We have innovative technology in every segment of our vertical integration: satellite components, satellite subsystems, satellite systems design, satellite integration and testing, satellite operations, image processing and data delivery.
Our approach towards component selection and design includes the extensive use of commercial off-the-shelf components (“COTS”) and modified-COTS, proprietary component selection and screening methods, and the systematic replacement of expensive hardware using smarter software.
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Our unique camera design uses a closed-loop stabilization system and adaptive optics to enable continuous collection of high-resolution imagery from a small-telescope aperture. This patented design is one of the cornerstones of our unit-economics differentiation, allowing us to collect over 10 times more data than any other small-satellite design, and giving us great flexibility to operate our satellites under varying conditions of lighting, altitude and platform stability.
Our success depends in part upon our ability to protect our core technology and intellectual property. To protect our proprietary rights and technology, we rely on a combination of different types of intellectual property rights including patents, trademarks and trade secrets, and confidentiality agreements and license agreements with consultants, vendors and customers. As of the date of this Report, we have 26 issued patents, two utility models and 43 pending patent applications in nine jurisdictions. We continue to invest in research and development to design, manufacture and fly new technology to orbit in every new satellite we launch, and we complete every new satellite design on a full design cycle of nine months. We drive technology R&D with the goal of maintaining our high-resolution imaging satellites in a Moore’s law equivalent curve: roughly doubling capacity every 18 months at the same price point.
As of the date of this Report, our satellite constellation consists of 34 NewSat satellites in orbit, 29 of which are operational, four of which are in the commissioning stage and one being used for testing. With a mass of less than 50 kilograms, a production cost of less than $1 million (approximately $1 million including launch costs), a daily imaging production capacity of over 300,000 kilometers and carrying a multispectral camera with less than one meter resolution and a hyperspectral camera at 30 meter resolution, with our patented technology, we believe that our latest satellite model, the NewSat Mark-V, is superior to those of our competitors in terms of unit economics, capacity and cost. Over the long term we plan to expand our constellation of satellites to approximately 200.
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The following table provides additional information about our current satellite constellation:
| SATELLITE NAME | SATELLITE GENERATION | LAUNCH DATE | PAYLOADS* | STATUS | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-6 | Mark IV-a | Sep 2, 2020 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-7 | Mark IV-a | Jan 15, 2020 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-8 | Mark IV-b | Jan 15, 2020 | MS, HS, IoT | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-9 | Mark IV-b | Nov 6, 2020 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-10 | Mark IV-b | Nov 6, 2020 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-11 | Mark IV-b | Nov 6, 2020 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-12 | Mark IV-c | Nov 6, 2020 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-13 | Mark IV-c | Nov 6, 2020 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-14 | Mark IV-c | Nov 6, 2020 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-15 | Mark IV-c | Nov 6, 2020 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-16 | Mark IV-c | Nov 6, 2020 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-17 | Mark IV-c | Nov 6, 2020 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-18 | Mark IV-c | Nov 6, 2020 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-19 | Mark IV-e | Jun 30, 2021 | MS, HS | Testing | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-20 | Mark IV-e | Jun 30, 2021 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-21 | Mark IV-e | Jun 30, 2021 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-22 | Mark IV-e | Jun 30, 2021 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-23 | Mark IV-g | Apr 1, 2022 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-24 | Mark IV-g | Apr 1, 2022 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-25 | Mark IV-g | Apr 1, 2022 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-26 | Mark V-a | Apr 1, 2022 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-27 | Mark IV-g | Apr 1, 2022 | MS, HS, HP | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-28 | Mark IV-g | May 25, 2022 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-29 | Mark IV-g | May 25, 2022 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-30 | Mark IV-g | May 25, 2022 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-31 | Mark IV-g | May 25, 2022 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-32 | Mark IV-g | Jan 3, 2023 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-33 | Mark IV-g | Jan 3, 2023 | MS, HS, HP | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-34 | Mark IV-g | Jan 3, 2023 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-35 | Mark V-b | Jan 3, 2023 | MS, HS | Operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-36 | Mark IV-h | Apr 14, 2023 | MS, HS | Commissioning | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-37 | Mark IV-h | Apr 14, 2023 | MS, HS | Commissioning | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-38 | Mark IV-h | Apr 14, 2023 | MS, HS | Commissioning | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NewSat-39 | Mark IV-h | Apr 14, 2023 | MS, HS | Commissioning | ||||||||||||||||||||||
(*)MS = Multispectral / HS = Hyperspectral / IoT = Internet of things / HP = Hosted payload
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Our anticipated technology roadmap is as follows:
Long Term Growth Opportunities
Our initial EO constellation and infrastructure are the key building blocks that we expect will enable us to leverage large constellations of small satellites to deliver a wide variety of services to Earth. Our key building blocks include:
•Complete, low-cost satellite bus
•Modular satellite architecture
•High-throughput satellite manufacturing
•Satellite operations at scale
•Multi-payload, in-orbit platform
•Inter-satellite laser mesh
•LEO/MEO/GEO complementarity
Regulatory
NOAA
The purpose of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (“NOAA”) Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs agency is to balance the commercial viability of private earth remote sensing space systems and sound regulatory practices and policies while protecting U.S. national security, foreign policy and international obligations.
Our satellites are purposefully designed with telescopes and image capture technology to enable and support the collection of earth imagery. Each satellite is designed and built to collect high-resolution multispectral imagery, hyperspectral imagery and full motion video. The raw data collected by our constellation is collected through a series of ground stations strategically located in several global locations outside of the United States. We have a mission and operations team, located in Spain and Argentina, that monitors and operates all satellites in the constellation. As all our satellite operations and management are located outside of the United States, we believe that we are not under NOAA’s oversight.
We established a wholly owned subsidiary in April 2021 to focus specifically on cultivating business with U.S. customers. In connections with the pursuit of U.S. customers, we anticipate modifications to some of the capture and delivery processes, particularly in support of public sector customers with discernible security and privacy requirements. As we grow our U.S. business, we expect to coordinate with the NOAA Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs agency to assure an understanding of regulations as they evolve and to proactively share any strategic changes contemplated by us that may relate to NOAA’s purview.
The FAA
We entered into a Rideshare Multi-Launch Agreement with SpaceX in early 2021 and the SpaceX Agreement in April 2022. By entering into launch agreements with a U.S.-based launch provider, we are indirectly subject to the license requirements of the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (“AST”). The FAA regulates the airspace of the U.S., through which launch vehicles must fly during launch to orbit and through which downlinks of raw data may occur if directed to a U.S.-based ground station. The AST office predominantly processes launch license requests submitted by launch vehicle operators, in our case, SpaceX, which includes information on the rideshare payloads flying on any given
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mission. As a result, reviews of our payloads by AST occur during, for example, the execution of Technical Assistance Agreement(s) upon SpaceX request and other associated launch reviews and licenses.
We have adopted the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”) and European Space Agency (“ESA”) standards regarding orbit debris mitigation. Having voluntarily subscribed to the United Nations Committee on Personal Uses of Outer Space orbital debris principles and guidance, we sought out the leading technical standards guiding responsible design, management, and test of space objects to meet the defined measures. To that end, we use the NASA orbit debris standard (NASA-STD-8719.14) and the ESA Orbital Debris Mitigation Guidelines (IADC-02-01, Current Revision).
ITAR, EAR and Export Controls
We have a global supply chain of upstream and downstream partners including manufacturers, suppliers and launch providers from a number of countries, including the U.S. The ITAR and EAR are the most relevant export control regulations we monitor. Generally, the ITAR restricts the export of hardware, software, technical data, and services containing defense or strategic applications. The EAR similarly regulates the export of hardware, software, and technology that has commercial or “dual-use” applications (i.e., for both military and commercial applications) or that have less sensitive military or space-related applications not subject to the ITAR. The regulations exist to advance the national security and foreign policy interests of the U.S.
Based upon the technologies we have procured from U.S. sources, we have not been specifically subject to ITAR. Since our export location may invoke, in certain instances, the EAR of the Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce, we track our component sourcing. We procure some components from U.S. suppliers listed on the Commerce Control List and we are therefore subject to the EAR. We export our satellites to the U.S. for launch pursuant to the SpaceX Agreement, which provides for launch services. With this current sourcing model and partner ecosystem, we must comply with the EAR.
The U.S. government agencies responsible for administering the ITAR and the EAR have significant discretion in the interpretation and enforcement of these regulations. The agencies also have significant discretion in approving, denying, or conditioning authorizations to engage in controlled activities. Such decisions are influenced by the U.S. government’s commitment to multilateral export control regimes, particularly the Missile Technology Control Regime concerning the spaceflight business.
Many different types of internal controls and measures are required to ensure compliance with export control regulations. In particular, we routinely complete end user compliance documents, record sourcing detail regarding country of origin and known classification numbers, determine the appropriate licensing jurisdiction (where applicable), and provide notice to internal and partner foreign team members of export-controlled information restrictions. In accordance with our Sanctions Compliance Policy, we do not export to embargoed, targeted sanction, or special policy countries. We have implemented a compliance diligence process for all third parties including, among other validations, verification of the parties with whom we contract at an entity and individual level.
Interagency Review
The review and approval of any license discussed above, as may be required, will be subject to interagency reviews that allow multiple government agencies including the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of State, U.S. DoD, NASA, and others. The purpose of this interagency review is to examine such license applications from each agency’s respective perspective including but not limited to safety, operational, national security, foreign policy and international obligations, as well as review of foreign ownership.
Other Potential Future U.S. Regulation
As we grow our U.S. business and to the extent we become a U.S. governmental contractor, our business will be subject to various additional U.S. regulation and related requirements, including but not limited to (1) the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement and the U.S. DoD and federal cybersecurity requirements, in connection with any defense work we perform in the future for the U.S. government and defense prime contractors, (2) the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual administered by the U.S. Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, and other U.S. government security protocols when accessing sensitive information, (3) maintaining national security clearance and mitigation elements under the National Industry Security Program and agreement with the U.S. DoD regarding any appropriate FOCI mitigation arrangement with respect to our U.S.-based subsidiary and (4) conducting routine
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investigations and reviews relating to compliance with various U.S. laws and regulations, including those associated with organizational conflicts of interest, procurement integrity, bid integrity and claim presentation, among others.
Legal Proceedings
It is possible that from time to time, we may be subject to various claims, lawsuits, and other legal and administrative proceedings that may arise in the ordinary course of business. Some of these claims, lawsuits, and other proceedings may range in complexity and result in substantial uncertainty; it is possible that they may result in damages, fines, penalties, non-monetary sanctions, or relief. However, we do not believe any claims, lawsuits, or proceedings currently pending, individually or in the aggregate, if adversely determined, would be material to our business or likely to result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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C. Organizational Structure
We are a holding company. The following diagram shows our ownership and structure (1):
(1)All lines represent 100% ownership unless otherwise indicated.
Subsidiaries of the Group as of April 14, 2023:
| Name | Principal activities | Country of incorporation | ||||||||||||
| Urugus S.A. | Manufacturing, assembly, integration, test and exports | Uruguay | ||||||||||||
| Nettar Group | Intermediate holding company | B.V.I. | ||||||||||||
| Nettar S.A. | Intermediate holding company | Uruguay | ||||||||||||
| Telluric Ltd. | Research and development (image analytics and user interfaces) | Israel | ||||||||||||
| Satellogic V. Inc. | Intermediate holding company | United States | ||||||||||||
Satellogic USA, Inc. (1) | Finance, sales and marketing, product strategy and business development | United States | ||||||||||||
Satellogic S.A. (2) | Research and development, administration, back office services (accounting) and prototype-building | Argentina | ||||||||||||
Satellogic Solutions S.L. (2) | Research and development (data science solutions and machine learning over the satellite images) | Spain | ||||||||||||
Satellogic China, LTD (3) | Sales and marketing | China | ||||||||||||
Satellogic China Beijing Branch (4) | Sales and marketing | China | ||||||||||||
Satellogic North America LLC (5) | Sales and marketing | United States | ||||||||||||
Satellogic Netherlands B.V. (6) | High-throughput plant (on hold) | The Netherlands | ||||||||||||
(1)This entity is controlled through Satellogic V. Inc.
(2)This entity is controlled through Nettar, S.A. an intermediate holding entity of the Group.
(3)This entity is controlled through Urugus S.A.
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(4)Branch of Satellogic China LTD
(5)This entity is controlled through Satellogic USA, Inc
(6)This entity is controlled by Satellogic Solutions S.L.
D. Property, Plants and Equipment
See “Item 4 – Business Overview – Operations – Facilities” above, and Note 8 (Property and Equipment, Net) to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
ITEM 4A. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
ITEM 5. OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS
A. Operating Results
The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and notes to those statements included in this Report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Please see “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in this Report.
Certain information called for by this Item 5, including a discussion of the results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020 has been reported previously in Amendment No. 1 to our Form 20-F filed on May 16, 2022 and is not repeated herein.
Key Factors Affecting Operating Results
We believe our performance and future success depends on several factors that present significant opportunities for us, but also pose risks and challenges, including those discussed in the section entitled “Risk Factors,” in the section entitled "Competitive Advantage," and in the section entitled "Growth Strategies."
Key Components of Results of Operations
The following briefly describes the components of revenue and expenses as presented in our Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss.
We are an early-stage revenue company with limited commercial operations, and our activities to date have been conducted in South America, Asia, Europe and North America. Currently, we conduct business through one operating segment. The Consolidated Financial Statements as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 (“the Consolidated Financial Statements”) have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and the rules and regulations of the SEC. Historically the consolidated financial statements were prepared in accordance with IFRS. The change from reporting in IFRS to U.S. GAAP was treated as a change in accounting standard, whereby we retrospectively applied the change to all prior reporting periods. Where the adoption of U.S. GAAP resulted in a material change in an asset or liability, the adjustment was reported to the opening balance of accumulated deficit.
The Consolidated Financial Statements include our accounts and those of our wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The Consolidated Financial Statements are presented in United States thousands of dollars (hereinafter “U.S. dollars” or “$”), unless stated otherwise.
Revenue
Revenue is derived from selling imagery and our current business activity is building a satellite constellation to support the selling of imagery. We may sell our imagery as a single task and recognize revenue at a point-in-time, or we may enter an arrangement that provides a stand-ready commitment and recognize revenue over time. We began to recognize revenue for the first time during the year ended December 31, 2021, primarily from the selling of our imagery to a single commercial space technology customer in an over-time revenue recognition arrangement.
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Cost of sales
Cost of sales includes direct costs related to ground stations, cloud and infrastructure costs and digital image processing.
General and administrative expenses
General and administrative expenses consist of the costs related to salaries, wages and other benefits, professional fees and stock-based compensation expense related to our back-office functions. Also included in general and administrative expenses are bad debt expense and other administrative expenses.
Research and development
Research and development expenses consist of the costs related to salaries, wages and other benefits, professional fees, stock-based compensation expenses and other R&D-related expenses.
Depreciation expense
Depreciation expense includes depreciation of satellites and other property and equipment.
Other operating expenses
Other operating expenses consist of salaries, wages and other benefits, professional fees and stock-based compensation related to our sales and marketing, production and mission operations functions.
Finance costs, net
Finance costs, net is primarily comprised of interest expense related to Debt prior to conversion and payoff in connection with the Merger, offset by interest earned on our Cash and Cash Equivalents. .
Change in fair value of financial instruments
Our warrant and earnout liabilities are subject to remeasurement to fair value at each balance sheet date. Changes in the fair value of these liabilities are recorded to the Change in fair value of financial instruments in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss.
Loss on extinguishment of debt
Loss on extinguishment of debt consists of the net of gains and losses from the extinguishment of debt instruments.
Other income, net
Other income, net consists mainly of differences related to foreign exchange gains and losses.
Income tax expense
We are not subject to taxation in the BVI, due to the 0% statutory tax rate, but we may be subject to withholding taxes paid at source on interest, dividends received and paid in the various jurisdictions in which we operate, or other fixed, annual, determinable or periodic income. Current income tax assets and liabilities are measured at the amount expected to be recovered from or paid to the taxation authorities where we operate. The tax rates and tax laws used to compute the amount are those that are enacted or substantively enacted at the reporting date in the countries where we operate and generate taxable income. Deferred income tax is provided using the liability method on temporary differences between the tax basis of assets and liabilities and their carrying amounts for financial reporting purposes at the reporting date.
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Results of Operations
Comparison of Results for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021
For a discussion of our consolidated statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020, refer to the section titled “Comparison of Results for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020” in Amendment No. 1 to our Form 20-F filed on May 16, 2022.
Results of operations are as follows:
| (in thousands of US dollars) | Year Ended December 31, | 2022 vs 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | $ Change | % Change | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 6,012 | $ | 4,247 | $ | — | $ | 1,765 | 42 | % | |||||||||||||||||||
| Costs and expenses | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of sales | 3,284 | 1,876 | — | 1,408 | 75 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| General and administrative expenses | 37,191 | 36,640 | 8,003 | 551 | 2 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research and development | 13,055 | 9,636 | 5,924 | 3,419 | 35 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Depreciation expense | 14,326 | 10,728 | 3,031 | 3,598 | 34 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other operating expenses | 29,023 | 14,002 | 5,449 | 15,021 | 107 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total costs and expenses | 96,879 | 72,882 | 22,407 | 23,997 | 33 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating loss | (90,867) | (68,635) | (22,407) | (22,232) | 32 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other income (expense), net | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Finance costs, net | (652) | (9,738) | 35 | 9,086 | (93) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Change in fair value of financial instruments | 58,311 | 17,983 | 9,637 | 40,328 | 224 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loss on extinguishment of debt | — | (37,216) | (9,240) | 37,216 | (100) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other income, net | 1,140 | 1,069 | 594 | 71 | 7 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total other income (expense), net | 58,799 | (27,902) | 1,026 | 86,701 | (311) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loss before income tax | $ | (32,068) | $ | (96,537) | $ | (21,381) | $ | 64,469 | (67) | % | |||||||||||||||||||
| Income tax (expense) benefit | (4,573) | 232 | (148) | (4,805) | (2071) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | $ | (36,641) | $ | (96,305) | $ | (21,529) | $ | 59,664 | (62) | % | |||||||||||||||||||
Revenue
During the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we recognized revenue of $6.0 million and $4.2 million, respectively, primarily from the selling of our imagery through our Asset Monitoring line of business, with CaaS gaining momentum. We were pre-revenue prior to 2021.
Cost of sales
Cost of sales increased to $3.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, primarily related to higher ground station and cloud services costs associated with our larger constellation.
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General and administrative expenses
| Year Ended December 31, | 2022 vs 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (in thousands of U.S. dollars) | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | $ Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General and administrative expenses | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Professional fees related to Merger transaction | $ | 11,188 | $ | 16,236 | $ | — | $ | (5,048) | (31) | % | |||||||||||||||||||
| Professional fees | 5,453 | 5,466 | 1,684 | (13) | — | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation | 2,968 | 5,274 | 1,235 | (2,306) | (44) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Salaries, wages, and other benefits | 6,250 | 4,432 | 3,377 | 1,818 | 41 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bad debt expense | 1,736 | 1,794 | — | (58) | (3) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Insurance | 4,613 | 86 | — | 4,527 | 5264 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other administrative expenses | 4,983 | 3,352 | 1,707 | 1,631 | 49 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 37,191 | $ | 36,640 | $ | 8,003 | $ | 551 | 2 | % | |||||||||||||||||||
General and administrative expenses were $37.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to $36.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The slight increase was due to increased costs associated with being a public company, primarily insurance, partially offset by lower professional fees related to elevated Merger activity in 2021, and lower stock-based compensation.
Research and Development Expenses
| Year Ended December 31, | 2022 vs 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (in thousands of U.S. dollars) | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research and development | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Salaries, wages, and other benefits | $ | 6,963 | $ | 6,296 | $ | 4,634 | $ | 667 | 11 | % | |||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation | 1,809 | 1,968 | 382 | (159) | (8) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Professional fees | 968 | 91 | 489 | 877 | 964 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other research and development expenses | 3,315 | 1,281 | 419 | 2,034 | 159 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 13,055 | $ | 9,636 | $ | 5,924 | $ | 3,419 | 35 | % | |||||||||||||||||||
R&D expenses increased $3.4 million to $13.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase was driven primarily by a higher average headcount in 2022 as compared to 2021, which contributed to an increase in stock-based compensation, salaries and wages, and other R&D expenses, such as software costs and laboratory supplies.
Depreciation expense
Depreciation expense was $14.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to $10.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was due primarily to the higher number of operating satellites in orbit in 2022 as compared to the previous period. There were 26 and 17 satellites in orbit as of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively.
Other Operating Expenses, net
| Year Ended December 31, | 2022 vs 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (in thousands of U.S. dollars) | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other operating expenses | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Salaries, wages, and other benefits | $ | 14,938 | $ | 6,800 | $ | 3,040 | $ | 8,138 | 120 | % | |||||||||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation | 3,590 | 3,639 | 115 | (49) | (1) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Professional fees | 1,966 | 1,310 | 684 | 656 | 50 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Software expenses | 4,504 | — | — | 4,504 | NM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other operating income and expenses | 4,025 | 2,253 | 1,610 | 1,772 | 79 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 29,023 | $ | 14,002 | $ | 5,449 | $ | 15,021 | 107 | % | |||||||||||||||||||
Other operating expenses increased by $15.0 million to $29.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $14.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was primarily due to higher average
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headcount in 2022, as we ramped up operations in anticipation of business growth, as compared to 2021, which contributed to higher compensation expense. Additionally, software expense increased primarily due to a new license to a proprietary software platform used for internal operations.
Finance Costs, net
| Year Ended December 31, | 2022 vs 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (in thousands of U.S. dollars) | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | $ Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Finance costs, net | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interest expense | $ | (1,596) | $ | (8,729) | $ | (43) | $ | 7,133 | (82) | % | |||||||||||||||||||
| Redeemable Series X preferred stock dividends | (97) | (974) | — | 877 | (90) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other finance costs | (123) | (71) | — | (52) | 73 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interest income | 1,164 | 36 | 78 | 1,128 | 3133 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | (652) | $ | (9,738) | $ | 35 | $ | 9,086 | (93) | % | |||||||||||||||||||
Finance costs, net decreased by $9.1 million to $0.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $9.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The decrease was due primarily to the decrease in interest expense associated with the retirement of debt, in connection with the Merger in January 2022.
Change in fair value of financial instruments
Change in fair value of financial instruments was related to net gains of $58.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to net gains of $18.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The change was primarily driven by the remeasurement to fair value of our warrant and earnout liabilities issued in conjunction with the Merger.
Loss on Extinguishment of Debt
In April 2021, we and our 2018 and 2019 convertible note holders agreed to extend the maturity date of the 2018 and 2019 convertible notes from April and September 2021, respectively, to April 2022. We recognized a loss on extinguishment of debt of $37.2 million on the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss for the year ended December 31, 2021, related to the agreement. For the year ended December 31,2022, we recognized no loss on extinguishment of debt.
Other Income, Net
Other income, net increased $71 thousand to $1.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $1.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was due to foreign currency exchange differences.
Income Tax
Income tax expense increased by $4.8 million to $4.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to a benefit from income tax of $0.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was due primarily to management’s decision to record a full valuation allowance on deferred tax assets on a worldwide basis, as well as the recognition of uncertain tax positions.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
To supplement our Consolidated Financial Statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, we use the following non-GAAP measures: EBITDA; Adjusted EBITDA; and Free Cash Flow. The presentation of this financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
We define Non-GAAP EBITDA as net loss excluding interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization. We did not incur amortization expense during the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020.
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We define Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA as Non-GAAP EBITDA further adjusted for merger-related transaction
costs and other income (expense). Other income (expense) consists of foreign currency gains and losses, changes in the fair
value of financial instruments and stock-based compensation.
We define Non-GAAP Free Cash Flow as net cash used in operating activities less payments for capital expenditures.
We use these non-GAAP financial measures for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. We believe these measures provide analysts, investors and management with helpful information regarding the underlying operating performance of our business, as they provide meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance and liquidity by removing the impact of items that we believe are not reflective of our underlying operating performance. The non-GAAP measures are used by us to evaluate our core operating performance and liquidity on a comparable basis and to make strategic decisions. The non-GAAP measures also facilitate company-to-company operating performance comparisons by backing out potential differences caused by variations such as capital structures, taxation, depreciation, capital expenditures and other non-cash items (i.e., embedded derivatives, debt extinguishment and stock-based compensation) which may vary for different companies for reasons unrelated to operating performance. However, different companies may define these terms differently and accordingly comparisons might not be accurate. There are a number of limitations related to the use of non-GAAP financial measures. We compensate for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the U.S. GAAP amounts excluded from these non-GAAP financial measures, and evaluating these non-GAAP financial measures together with their relevant financial measures in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Non-GAAP measures such as EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow are not intended to be a substitute for any U.S. GAAP financial measure.
The following presents our non-GAAP financial measures, along with the most comparable GAAP metric:
| Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||
| (in thousands of U.S. dollars) | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||||||||
| Net loss | $ | (36,641) | $ | (96,305) | $ | (21,529) | |||||||||||
| EBITDA (non-GAAP) | (16,146) | (77,080) | (18,307) | ||||||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) | (56,041) | (31,799) | (17,566) | ||||||||||||||
| Net cash used in operating activities | (68,462) | (28,439) | (11,174) | ||||||||||||||
| Free Cash Flow | (95,714) | (39,672) | (26,961) | ||||||||||||||
For the definitions of EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, see “Non-GAAP Financial Measure Reconciliations” below.
Non-GAAP Financial Measure Reconciliations
We have included reconciliations from the most directly comparable GAAP metric to Non-GAAP EBITDA, Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA and Non-GAAP Free Cash Flow for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 below.
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The following table presents a reconciliation of Non-GAAP EBITDA and Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA to our net loss for the periods indicated.
| Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||
| (in thousands of U.S. dollars) | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||||||||
| Net loss | $ | (36,641) | $ | (96,305) | $ | (21,529) | |||||||||||
| Plus interest expense | 1,596 | 8,729 | 43 | ||||||||||||||
| Plus income tax expense (benefit) | 4,573 | (232) | 148 | ||||||||||||||
| Plus depreciation | 14,326 | 10,728 | 3,031 | ||||||||||||||
| Non-GAAP EBITDA | $ | (16,146) | $ | (77,080) | $ | (18,307) | |||||||||||
| Plus Merger transaction costs | 11,188 | 16,236 | — | ||||||||||||||
| Less other income, net | (1,140) | (1,069) | (594) | ||||||||||||||
| Less change in fair value of financial instruments | (58,311) | (17,983) | (9,637) | ||||||||||||||
| Plus loss on extinguishment of debt | — | 37,216 | 9,240 | ||||||||||||||
| Plus stock-based compensation | 8,368 | 10,881 | 1,732 | ||||||||||||||
| Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA | $ | (56,041) | $ | (31,799) | $ | (17,566) | |||||||||||
The following table presents a reconciliation of Non-GAAP Free Cash Flow to cash flows used in operating activities for the periods indicated.
| Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||
| (in thousands of U.S. dollars) | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||||||||
| Net cash used in operating activities | $ | (68,462) | $ | (28,439) | $ | (11,174) | |||||||||||
| Less purchases of property and equipment | (27,252) | (11,233) | (15,787) | ||||||||||||||
| Non-GAAP Free Cash Flow | $ | (95,714) | $ | (39,672) | $ | (26,961) | |||||||||||
B. Liquidity and Capital Resources
On January 25, 2022, we consummated the Merger. The Merger resulted in the addition of approximately $168 million in cash to the Consolidated Statement of Financial Position. Our outstanding indebtedness as of December 31, 2021, which consisted of notes debt, promissory note, Series X Redeemable preferred stock and the Cantor Loan was converted to Class A ordinary shares or settled as of the transaction date. As of December 31, 2022, we have $76.5 million in cash and cash equivalents on hand, and no debt.
As a result of continued uncertainty in the capital markets, inflationary pressures, and slower than anticipated revenue growth, we undertook additional measures to control costs. These actions primarily related to the moderation of capital expenditures, a reduction in headcount, and also included reduction of certain discretionary spending. With these changes we anticipate our net cash used by operations to moderate and ultimately decline below levels in 2022. We believe our cash on hand resulting from the Merger, along with ongoing revenue generation, will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next twelve months. Our longer-term liquidity (i.e., more than 12 months from the date of this filing) needs include cash necessary to support our business growth. Our ability to satisfy our longer-term liquidity will depend primarily on our ability to grow our revenue and meet our revenue targets, which are discussed below. Additional funding may be required for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to, slower than anticipated revenue growth, delays in the anticipated schedule to build and launch our constellation of satellites, or our projected capital expenditure requirements may be subject to cost overruns for reasons outside of our control. Except for the construction of the high-throughput plant in the Netherlands, the timing of which is currently uncertain, there are no other material capital expenditures or divestitures outside of the ordinary course of business, as of the date of this Report.
Since our formation, we have devoted substantial effort and capital resources to the development of our satellite constellation and image technology. As of December 31, 2022, we have an accumulated deficit of $222.8 million, and for the year ended December 31, 2022 we had net cash used in operating activities of $68.5 million. The net losses we have incurred since inception, and the recent elevated cash used in operating activities, are consistent with our expectations and
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business strategy. We will continue to incur net losses and utilize cash for operating activities in accordance with our operating plan as we continue to expand our constellation of satellites and our operations.
Currently, we primarily rely on our existing cash and cash equivalents balances to fund our business, including capital expenditures and our working capital requirements. Our current and future revenue depends largely on our ability to: 1) utilize our available satellite capacity with new and existing customers and 2) enter into new commercial relationships with new customers. There can be no assurance that we will attain positive cash flow from operations, and if we continue to experience negative cash flows, our existing cash and cash equivalents balances may be reduced, and we may be required to reduce capital expenditures which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We are an early-stage growth company in the early stage of development, and subject to a number of risks associated with emerging, technology-oriented companies with a limited operating history, including, but not limited to, dependence on key individuals, a developing business model, initial and continued market acceptance of our services and protection of our proprietary technology. Our sales efforts involve considerable time and expense, and our sales cycle is long and unpredictable. We also have risks from competition from substitute products and services. All of these risks, as well as the risks set forth under Item 3D. “Risk Factors”, could have an adverse impact on our business and financial prospects and cause us to seek additional financing to fund future operations.
Outlook
As previously announced in our press release and investor call on December 15, 2022, we are targeting revenue for the full year 2023 to be between $30 to $50 million, with gross margins in the range of 70%-80%. For 2023, we expect our revenue will be heavily weighted to the second half of the year.
Going forward, revenue will be driven by our continued growth in Asset Monitoring, Constellation-as-a-Service, and sales of Space Systems.
Our outlook is subject to substantial uncertainty. Our results are inherently unpredictable and may be materially affected by many factors, such as our long and unpredictable sales cycles, which involve considerable time and expense, and our ability to, among other things, implement appropriate sales strategies, including educating potential customers about the technical capabilities and value of our satellites and product offerings, prepare and operate high-throughput position factories, acquire sufficient quantities of third-party components and supplies, recruit and maintain adequate staffing, implement effective supplier strategy and supply chain management and adopt manufacturing and quality control processes. Factors outside our control, such as changes in global