Canadian space stocks fall as new index dips below starting point

All nine companies on the SpaceQ Canadian Space Index fell in the week ended Oct. 9, sending the index down 5.4 percent to 98.70.

The index closed below its 100.00 base, set Sept. 4, for the first time on Wednesday, when it ended at 99.80.

"The SpaceQ Canadian Space Index is an editorial measure published by SpaceQ for journalistic purposes," the outlet noted. "It is not an investable index, not a financial benchmark, and nothing in it constitutes investment advice."

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Magellan Aerospace and 5N Plus tied for the week’s steepest decline at 8.6 percent each.

Magellan closed at $31.30 and is still up 69.9 percent this year, 57 percent of the way up its 52-week range. 5N Plus closed at $30.26, and its 70.8 percent gain since January remains the best on the board.

Maritime Launch Services fell 5.8 percent to 41 cents, the third-largest decline, in a week when it and Galaxia announced Wednesday that Galaxia will build an autonomous flight safety system for launches from Spaceport Nova Scotia.

MDA Space fell 5.5 percent to $40.18. Telesat declined 3.9 percent to $65.52. Calian Group fell 4.1 percent to $80.53.

Intermap Technologies fell 4.5 percent to 85 cents, closing at its 52-week low. It has lost 54.1 percent year to date, the worst showing on the board.

Baylin Technologies also declined 4.5 percent, to 21 cents, using its Oct. 8 close. C-COM Satellite Systems fell 3.5 percent to 83 cents, the week’s smallest decline.

NorthStar Earth & Space, which began trading on NYSE American as NSTR on Oct. 2, and which rang the closing bell today at the NYSE, fell about 26 percent in its first full week to $US 3.28. That is 57 percent below the $US 7.72 at which Viking Acquisition Corp. I, the blank-cheque company it merged into, last closed.

NorthStar is not a constituent of the SpaceQ Canadian Space Index because its listing is on a U.S. exchange only. The company has said in the past it would be listed in Canada as well at some point.

Sixteen of the 20 U.S. space companies SpaceQ tracks fell in the week ended Oct. 9, and the Procure Space ETF declined 2.7 percent.

SpaceX rose 2.3 percent, the largest gain among the U.S. names. Globalstar gained 0.7 percent, EchoStar rose 0.6 percent and Viasat closed unchanged.

Sidus Space posted the steepest decline at 14.4 percent, followed by Firefly Aerospace at 14.2 percent. AST SpaceMobile fell 12.8 percent after rising 8.0 percent on Tuesday, and Redwire, Voyager Technologies and Momentus each declined 11.9 percent.

SpaceX said after the close on Thursday that it has agreed to buy up to 14 MHz of spectrum in the 800 MHz band for its Starlink Mobile service, subject to final approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

Redwire announced Monday that Axiom Space had awarded it a follow-on contract to supply two roll-out solar array wings for the second module of Axiom Station. The value was not disclosed.

BlackSky Technology, which declined 4.6 percent to $US 20.92 for the week, said Thursday it had won a six-figure Gen-3 On-Demand pilot contract with a new international intelligence customer.

International markets mixed

Seraphim Space Investment Trust, a London-listed fund that holds stakes in space companies, rose 1.0 percent to 204.5 pence, about $3.85, after sliding to 191.6 pence on Thursday.

Innospace, the South Korean rocket developer listed on the KOSDAQ, rose 6.0 percent to 6,860 won, about $7.26. That compares Thursday’s close with last Friday’s because South Korean markets were closed Friday for Hangul Day.

The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.5 percent in the same period, and the S&P 500 gained 1.2 percent.

With files from SpaceQ