FROM SPACE TO SPAC: Satellite veterans warn of space SPAC downside. “Space ventures have been rushing in the last six months to take advantage of increasing investor appetite for SPACs, or special-purpose acquisition companies. Often referred to as ‘blank check’ companies, SPACs offer space ventures a significant — and relatively quick — cash injection as they are fast-tracked to the public markets. . . . Suborbital spaceflight venture Virgin Galactic sparked the current space SPAC wave with its 2019 merger with Social Capital Hedosophia. In late 2020, space logistics startup Momentus and satellite-to-device specialist AST & Science announced SPAC deals. Space-based data ventures Spire and BlackSky and launch providers Astra and Rocket Lab all announced SPAC mergers between Feb. 2 and March 1. . . . In a separate interview, Viasat CEO Mark Dankberg compared the rush of companies going public with sky-high valuations despite little or no revenue to the dot-com bubble at the turn of the century. ‘I think it’s very dangerous,’ Dankberg told SpaceNews.”