NewSpace

We Represent Innovators and Investors Engaged in the NewSpace Economy

Wilson Sonsini represents companies that are actively engaged in the NewSpace economy. That includes innovative entrepreneurs, start-ups, and other market entrants, as well as established companies. We also represent venture capital firms, institutional investors, and other entities that are fully or selectively involved in financing NewSpace ventures.

The firm’s NewSpace clients include Astranis Space Technologies, BlackSky, Lunasonde, Skylo Technologies, and Slingshot Aerospace, among others.

Our NewSpace Clients

Our firm has experience working closely with growing and established clients that are focused on next-level space activity—from agtech companies and communications entities to launch vehicle manufacturers and satellite servicers. Within the expansive NewSpace industry, Wilson Sonsini represents builders, parts suppliers, communications ventures, commercial space entities, ancillary service providers, and other innovators operating in developing areas.

For example, our NewSpace industry clients operate in the following sectors:

• Communications satellite operators
• Earth imaging satellite operators
• Launch vehicle manufacturers
• Satellite servicing/OTVs
• Components, services, and ground

Experience and Capacity to Deliver Comprehensive Services to NewSpace Clients

With the increase in both the volume of space-related investor activity and the number of companies entering the NewSpace market, there has been a corresponding surge in venture financings, acquisitions, and intra-industry partnering efforts. Accordingly, our NewSpace clients have drawn from our firm’s substantial transactional experience—from corporate dealmaking to regulatory advocacy and technology transactions. Additionally, the firm has advised NewSpace clients in areas of importance to growth and success, including intellectual property and regulatory matters.

In short, Wilson Sonsini has the experience and capacity to address the range of unique needs of NewSpace clients. Select key practice areas that matter most to NewSpace clients include:

Corporate

• Venture financings
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Public offerings
• Governance

Intellectual Property

• IP strategy and development
• Patents and trademarks
• Advertising, marketing, and promotions

Regulatory

• Aerospace- and communications-related issues, including NOAA, FAA, and FCC
• National security matters, such as CFIUS and export control
• Privacy and cybersecurity issues

Technology Transactions

• Commercial transactions and agreements, including collaborations, joint ventures, strategic alliances, and other partnering arrangements
• OEM, distribution, and reseller agreements
• Manufacturing and supply agreements

Integrated, Multidisciplinary Teams

Just as we have successfully done in the past when innovation and disruptive technologies led to the creation of new industries, Wilson Sonsini has formed an integrated, multidisciplinary team of attorneys who work closely with the entrepreneurs, market entrants, established companies, and investors at the forefront of the NewSpace sector. And just as we’ve helped clients in the past address unique and new issues of law that could have impacted their businesses, we remain well positioned to assist NewSpace clients with their current and future challenges—including the many intertwined legal and business issues that confront them—even if those challenges involve bleeding-edge technologies or transgress multiple geographies and global markets. We also have the resources to handle complex or larger-scale matters in a well-coordinated manner that leverages our firm’s collective expertise.

Why Wilson Sonsini Is the Right Firm for NewSpace Clients

There are several reasons why we are the right law firm for NewSpace clients. Wilson Sonsini can offer clients in the space comparative advantages, in particular:

• We are the premier legal counsel for venture-funded technology start-ups, and we have strong ties to VC firms and financing institutions.
• Our team consists of attorneys—including a former NewSpace company co-founder and CEO—with experience advising NewSpace companies on legal matters and the many intertwined business issues that confront them.
• We have former U.S. and EU regulatory agency veterans who can assist NewSpace clients in key areas of importance, including developing areas at intersection of cyber security and space law.
• Our West Coast, East Coast, and Texas offices are in or near key U.S. NewSpace markets, and we have offices in London and Brussels—locations that are also highly relevant to investment and regulatory issues.

For decades, dating back to the birth of the technology revolution—when Silicon Valley earned its name as base camp for the fearless and daring—Wilson Sonsini has been at ground zero. Since our inception, we have partnered with companies making novel discoveries and developing the newest technologies and disruptive innovations. Wilson Sonsini is the law firm that is best positioned to work with the entrepreneurs, companies, and investors looking to the promise that space holds.