# Space Forge Financial Model In-space manufacturing company building fully returnable and re-launchable satellite platforms (ForgeStar™) to produce materials impossible to make on Earth. - Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/space-forge - Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/space-forge.xlsx - Category: Biotech/Pharma - Model type: SaaS ARR / Valuation - Funding round: Seed - Funding: $10M - Founded: 2021 - Geography: UK (Welsh company; UK Space Agency mentioned in team background) [DECK slide 6]. - Customer: B2C ## About the company Space Forge is building ForgeStar, a fully returnable and re-launchable satellite platform for manufacturing in microgravity, vacuum, and near-absolute-zero conditions. The company targets advanced semiconductors, composites, and pharmaceuticals that cannot be made terrestrially, with soft-return capability differentiating it from an ISS-based process. The deck implies a platform-as-a-service model in which industrial customers pay per manufacturing mission or quantity of material returned to Earth. Government or agency contracts may support early revenue, but no customer, contract, mission price, volume, or launch schedule is disclosed in the research. The team comprised 25 people from 12 countries. ForgeStar’s proposed Earth-side benefits include up to 60% lower energy use and decarbonisation in automotive applications. The model should schedule launches, mission capacity, customer contracts, spacecraft capex, launch and return cost, reliability, insurance, and R&D. ## What's included - 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions - Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule - Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking - Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check - Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR - Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention ## Product & value proposition - Product: ForgeStar™ - world's first fully returnable and re-launchable satellite platform. - Enables manufacturing in microgravity, vacuum, and near-absolute-zero conditions. - Target output materials: advanced semiconductors, composites, pharmaceuticals. - Key differentiators vs. ISS: dedicated platform (not constrained by ISS schedule), scalable, and has soft-return capability. - Claimed Earth-side impact: up to 60% energy reduction; decarbonisation of automotive applications. ## Revenue model Not explicitly stated in deck. Implied model: - Platform-as-a-service / manufacturing runs: customers (pharma, semiconductor, composites firms) pay per mission or per kg of manufactured material returned to Earth. Rationale: business is positioning itself as infrastructure provider enabling customers to manufacture novel materials in orbit. - Potentially also government/agency contracts (UK Space Agency background of CEO suggests agency relationships). Rationale: space hardware companies at this stage typically rely on government contracts for early revenue. ## Traction & metrics Team headcount only: 25 people from 12 countries. ## Competition / moat Not explicitly a dedicated competition slide. Implied moats from problem/solution framing: - First-mover: positioning as world's first fully returnable and re-launchable satellite for manufacturing. - Technical barriers: soft-return capability; dedicated platform vs. ISS dependency. - No competitive landscape chart shown. ## Team & funding ask / use of funds - Co-founders: - Josh Western (CEO) - UK Space Agency, Thales Alenia Space background. - Andrew Bacon (CTO) - Thales Alenia Space, SEA/Cohort, AAC Clyde background. - Team: 25 people from 12 countries; disciplines span astrophysics to materials science. ## Recommended financial model - Archetype + why: **Hardware + Manufacturing-as-a-Service (MaaS) 3-statement model with milestone-based revenue**. Space Forge is pre-revenue deep-tech hardware; the model needs to capture: (a) R&D/capex burn through platform development, (b) first mission revenue tied to ForgeStar launches, (c) a recurring MaaS revenue stream per mission once operational. A standard SaaS ARR model is wrong here - revenue is mission-discrete, not subscription. A 3-statement model with a hardware production schedule and MaaS revenue layer is the right structure. - Forecast horizon & granularity: 7–10 years (development + early commercial ramp); monthly for years 1–2 (cash burn planning), quarterly for years 3–5, annual thereafter. - Key drivers & assumptions: - ForgeStar unit development cost - capital-intensive; rationale: satellite platforms at this scale typically cost £5–20M to develop; no deck figure. - Time to first launch / mission - 2–4 years from seed; rationale: typical small-sat deep-tech timeline; no deck figure. - Mission cadence (launches per year) - 1–2 in early years scaling to 4–6 as platform is reused; rationale: re-launchability is the core value prop, implying multi-use per unit. - Revenue per mission / kg returned - pricing TBD; comparable ISS experiment costs suggest $10k–$100k+ per kg; no deck figure. - Reuse rate per ForgeStar unit - key economic lever; no deck figure. - Headcount growth from 25 base; burn rate based on 25-person deep-tech team (est. £3–5M/year fully loaded). - Materials addressed: semiconductors, composites, pharmaceuticals - size and willingness-to-pay vary significantly by vertical; model should split by vertical. - Energy reduction claim (60%) - supports premium pricing narrative but not a direct financial driver. - Government grant / contract revenue - likely meaningful at early stage given UK Space Agency ties; no deck figure. - Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex): - **Bear**: Launch delayed by 2 years; low mission cadence (1/year); low price per mission; minimal reuse. - **Base**: First launch in 3 years; 2–3 missions/year by year 5; moderate per-mission pricing; 3–5 reuses per unit. - **Bull**: First launch in 2 years; strong government contracts bridge; 4+ missions/year by year 5; high per-mission pricing from pharma/semiconductor premium customers. - Required sheets / outputs: 1. Assumptions - all drivers, clearly tagged vs. 2. Development timeline / milestones - ForgeStar build, test, launch schedule. 3. Revenue - mission schedule × price per mission, split by vertical (semiconductors / composites / pharma). 4. OpEx - R&D, headcount, launch costs (third-party launch vehicle), operations. 5. CapEx - ForgeStar unit build costs; maintenance / refurbishment per reuse. 6. P&L (Income Statement). 7. Cash Flow - critical: pre-revenue burn and funding runway. 8. Balance Sheet. 9. KPI summary - missions per year, revenue per mission, reuse count, runway months. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is the Space Forge financial model free? Yes. The Space Forge model is a free Excel download with live formulas. ### Can I change the assumptions? Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.