Astro Digital will reach Nasdaq by merging with Proem Acquisition Corp I, a blank-check vehicle that pegs the California satellite manufacturer at about $587M on a pro forma post-money enterprise basis, the two companies said Monday.
The payout could reach $180M in gross proceeds overall. Roughly $50M of that arrives through a PIPE led by Proem Asset Management and Leon Capital Group, with as much as $130M coming from Proem’s trust account if shareholders forgo redemptions.
Proem Asset Management and its affiliates have already put $25M into the PIPE, and both sides expect to close the merger in the first quarter of 2027.
More than a decade has gone into building spacecraft for buyers who would rather not run factories of their own. Nearly 40 satellites have reached orbit since 2018. The fleet spans 16 mission types for more than 30 customers, among them NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, Boeing and Sony.
Blank checks are back
Co-founder and chief executive Chris Biddy says revenue has compounded at 42% annualized over two years, with positive adjusted EBITDA and a backlog that doubled last year.
The timing rides a revival. SPACAnalytics counts 152 SPAC IPOs in the United States this year out of 227 listings, roughly two-thirds of new issues, against 144 for all of 2025.
Capital-hungry space companies are natural beneficiaries, since constellations take years to pay off, and Astro Digital sells the machines rather than betting on one network. Biddy’s management team stays in place.
