Space cargo company Momentus going public via SPAC
06 October 2020
Space cargo delivery startup Momentus has agreed to go public via a reverse merger that would value the company at just over $1.5 billion, Axios has learned from a source familiar with the situation.
Details: The company would become listed on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol MNTS, and would secure a simultaneous $175 million investment from Capital Group, D.E. Shaw, Lerner Enterprises, Tribe Capital, and Axon Capital.
The big picture: Santa Clara, Calif.-based Momentus was formed in 2017 to effectively shuttle satellites between rockets and their intended orbits. Its first commercial mission is slated for December, tied to a SpaceX launch.
- It would go public after being acquired by Stable Road Capital, a blank check company formed last year by investor Brian Kabot. An official announcement is expected to come on Wednesday.
- The company previously raised around $80 million in VC funding, including from two investors in the simultaneous investment (Lerner and Tribe).
- Bloomberg was first to report on the pending deal, but without dollar details.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.