Fund profile

More information is available on the trust’s website investors.seraphim.vc

SSIT aims to generate capital growth over the long term through investment in a diversified international portfolio of predominantly growth-stage (B-stage or later), privately financed SpaceTech businesses (which SSIT defines as entities that rely on space-based connectivity and/or precision, navigation, and timing signals or whose technology or services are already addressing, originally derived from, or potentially benefiting, the space sector).

According to management, SSIT’s portfolio companies are typically category leaders with the potential to scale globally. The manager says that they frequently benefit from first-mover advantages across areas such as global security, cybersecurity, food security, climate change and sustainability.

SSIT was launched in July 2021, hitting its capital raise target, and started life with cash of about £178.4m. Total assets at the end of December 2025 were £337.5m.

SSIT’s AIFM is Seraphim Space Manager LLP (Seraphim).

Measuring success

SSIT is targeting annualised NAV returns of 20% over the long term. The trust has no formal index benchmark, but for the purposes of this note we have compared it with the MSCI World Aerospace and Defence Index for simplicity’s sake.

Manager’s view

Just scratching the surface of NAV growth

Mark Boggett says “we are just scratching the surface of SSIT’s NAV growth potential”

Mark Boggett, the CEO of SSIT’s investment manager, is clear on what he believes is the growth outlook for dual use SpaceTech and, therefore, SSIT. In his view, even with the recent strong gains reported in its recent interim results (see the performance section on page 14 for further discussion) and the 167% valuation uplift for Xona discussed on page 16, SSIT is only just scratching the surface of its NAV growth potential. Mark comments that, while ICEYE may be leading the pack currently, he believes that all of SSIT’s portfolio companies have the potential to follow a similar growth trajectory.

Mark expects to see further quarter on quarter NAV growth as the company moves through 2026 and beyond, as both recently signed contracts may convert to revenues, and he suggests that the underlying portfolio companies could secure further contract wins at an increasing rate. According to Mark, given this backdrop and the strength of the structural growth drivers that underpin this, even with SSIT currently trading around par, SSIT’s share price offers good value.

SpaceTech recognised as critical national infrastructure

A growing recognition of SpaceTech as critical national infrastructure

As previously noted, the manager believes that the SpaceTech sector has entered a new phase, which may be underpinned by structural increases in defence spending and a growing recognition of SpaceTech as critical national infrastructure. The manager considers that rising geopolitical tensions and the need for sovereign capability appear to have contributed to a shift in national priorities, which is accelerating procurement across intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); secure communications; and space domain awareness – areas where the manager believes SSIT’s portfolio is well positioned. Developments since we last published, in particular the US and Israel’s war on Iran, have highlighted this further in the manager’s opinion.

SpaceTech’s importance is increasingly visible in new contract wins

This shift appears to be translating into commercial outcomes. Across the portfolio, companies are securing larger and earlier-stage contracts from government customers, which suggests a change in procurement behaviour that may increasingly favour established commercial providers. This demand is not limited to the US, which has been a significant investor, as Europe, Japan, and other allied nations are also increasing investment to address capability gaps and reduce reliance on external providers.

Improved economics mean more nations can procure their own satellite constellations

NATO members as a group are now committing to higher levels of defence expenditure. Mark observes that US threats to withdraw support to Ukraine, including Elon Musk’s threat to remove access to Starlink, have highlighted the potential vulnerability of NATO without US support. With the falling costs of both launch and hardware, such as smaller, lighter, and less expensive satellites that use components from other applications to reduce costs, the economics of space hardware procurement appear to have changed. This may allow nations that were previously unable to afford to own hardware in space to procure their own constellations. For example, Greece, Finland, Poland, and Switzerland purchased their own satellites last year. ICEYE appears to be benefitting from this trend.

SSIT’s manager notes that ICEYE has won four contracts over the last year with European nation states that are each worth in excess of £100m. These include a €1.7bn award to its joint venture with Rheinmetall from the German military. According to the manager, the German deal was completed in less than six months, which may indicate that demand for this technology is affecting traditional procurement processes. Other contracts include a €200m deal with Poland’s Ministry of National Defence to supply three synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, a ground segment for data access, and an option for three more satellites; a $168m contract with the defence forces of Finland for three satellites with options for more; and a SEK1.3bn agreement with the Swedish armed forces for 10 satellites and related data services.

Capital markets are supporting SpaceTech

$12.4bn invested in SpaceTech over 2025

SpaceTech funding reached record levels in 2025, with $12.4bn invested globally, surpassing the previous peak and suggesting resilience of the sector relative to broader venture capital markets. The funding environment has also broadened, with more growth-stage rounds and fewer concentrated mega-deals, which the manager believes supports a more sustainable investment cycle.

There appears to be increasing interest in SpaceX’s upcoming IPO, which is predicted by some market commentators to be the largest to date. This coincides with renewed interest in space exploration, which may be influenced by the recent phase of NASA’s Artemis mission. Amongst the listed stocks, the manager highlights share price appreciation at Spire Global and Planet Labs PBC (up 164% and 68%, year-to-date, respectively).

Strong operational progress is driving valuation gains

Private portfolio valued at 200% of cost

Within SSIT’s portfolio, this changing backdrop appears to be reflected in both operational developments and valuation gains. Holdings, including ICEYE, ALL.SPACE, HawkEye 360, D-Orbit, and, more recently, Xona, have recorded valuation increases, contributing to the private portfolio exceeding 200% of cost for the first time. Several companies are now reporting revenue growth, and management teams representing the majority of portfolio value are targeting EBITDA profitability over the next 12–24 months.

SSIT’s manager believes that these trends still have much further to run. SSIT has experienced growth with its largest holding ICEYE, which more than doubled revenues in 2025 to €250m and generated more than €100m in EBITDA. ICEYE’s management has also stated that the business is on track to exceed €1bn of revenues by 2027.

HawkEye 360 published a prospectus in relation to its proposed IPO on 27 April 2026. SSIT says that, if the IPO were to be priced at the midpoint of its indicated $24–$26 offer range, this would imply a valuation of $2.36bn for the business on a fully diluted basis, which SSIT calculates would translate to a 4.66p per share uplift in SSIT’s NAV (see pages 12 and 13 for more details).

While the exact timing is uncertain, Mark believes SSIT’s other private holdings have similar potential, and he expects them to follow comparable growth trajectories over time.

The opportunity in AI

SSIT’s manager also highlights the growing convergence between AI and space infrastructure, pointing to developments such as the integration of xAI into SpaceX as an illustration of where the market may be heading. More broadly, the rapid scaling of AI models is driving increased demand for compute and supporting infrastructure, with companies such as NVIDIA at the centre of this buildout. The manager notes that while advances in chips and model architecture have enabled this progress, they are also intensifying demands on power, cooling and physical infrastructure.

SSIT’s manager says that Elon Musk’s thesis is that the primary constraint on the next phase of AI development will not be algorithms, but access to energy. As AI models scale, their power consumption also increases, raising questions about whether terrestrial grids – particularly in the West – can keep pace with accelerating demand for compute capacity.

Data centres in space?

Musk has argued that space offers a potential solution. By placing data centres in orbit, systems may be able to access largely unconstrained solar energy, which could avoid some of the limitations associated with land, grid capacity and permitting requirements. This contrasts with regions such as China, which are currently positioned to benefit from an energy perspective given continued reliance on fossil fuels and rapid deployment of nuclear capacity. The implication is that long-term AI leadership may depend on energy availability as well as technological capability.

SSIT’s manager says that SpaceX is uniquely positioned to pursue this approach. It argues that, having already deployed thousands of satellites, SpaceX has demonstrated an ability to build, launch, and operate large-scale orbital networks. The manager comments that the next step, in Musk’s vision, is to transition from communications satellites to distributed, space-based data centre infrastructure, capable of being scaled incrementally and interconnected globally.

SSIT’s manager believes this has broader implications for the sector. In his view, as demand for compute continues to accelerate, AI companies will increasingly need to consider not just chips and models, but also access to energy and infrastructure – potentially including space-based solutions – if they are to remain competitive. While still an emerging concept, the alignment of AI, energy and orbital infrastructure reinforces the long-term strategic importance of SpaceTech, he adds.

The manager highlights that this is a thesis being actively pursued by one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the sector. While execution risks remain, he thinks that this is not a strategy that can be easily dismissed, adding that SSIT’s portfolio is exposed to companies well positioned to benefit from these developments. The manager also highlights that there are opportunities for portfolio companies to capture benefits by leveraging the use of AI in their own offering. Mark says that HawkEye 360, Tomorrow.io and LeoLabs as all being business that, at heart, are AI companies leveraging low cost infrastructure to provide valuable insights on their own proprietary datasets.

Despite the strength of the opportunity set, capital discipline is still key

The manager also highlights the importance of capital discipline. SSIT has remained liquid without raising new equity, supported by selective participation in funding rounds and recycling of capital from realised positions. The manager says that this approach allows the trust to continue backing its highest-conviction opportunities while maintaining balance sheet flexibility.

SSIT’s manager says that it has a strong pipeline of opportunities, both within the existing portfolio and in new companies it has identified as emerging leaders in the SpaceTech sector. With the trust now trading at a c 34% premium to NAV driven by strong performance and growing interest in dual use SpaceTech, the board has published a circular in relation to a potential C-share offering that could raise up to £350m (see page 18). The issue will comprise both a placing and retail offer.

Strong growth outlook driven by defence usage

The manager expects several supportive trends to continue. Defence-led demand is anticipated to remain a key driver of growth, particularly in Europe where investment is accelerating from a low base. At the same time, the manager expects that increasing satellite deployment and improving revisit rates are expected to unlock new commercial applications, supported by growing interest from large enterprises and consultancies integrating space-derived data into decision-making.

SSIT is well positioned at the intersection of defence, data, and space infrastructure

Mark believes that SSIT is well positioned at the intersection of defence, data, and space infrastructure. He believes that, with a portfolio increasingly aligned to mission-critical applications and a strengthening funding and exit environment, the outlook for both portfolio performance and valuation progression is favourable.

Asset allocation

At 31 December 2025, SSIT held 23 direct investments with a total fair value of £331.6m, up from £259.8m as at 30 June 2025, reflecting both valuation gains and selected follow-on investments. The portfolio remains concentrated, with the top 10 holdings accounting for 91.9% of NAV, compared with 87.1% at 30 September 2025, although as is illustrated in Figure 1 below, SSIT continues to provide exposure across a broad spread of SpaceTech subsectors.

SSIT’s manager reiterates that the portfolio is focused on companies that it considers to be the top of their fields, which have strong growth potential. The manager comments that it does not take a broad-brush approach. Instead, SSIT’s investments are chosen for their quality and leadership. Spreading investments across subsectors and countries helps to mitigate risk, it adds.

Platform businesses represent a significant proportion of the portfolio, which reflects a deliberate focus by SSIT’s manager on companies building constellations or space-based infrastructure that are considered to have strong operating leverage – for example, ICEYE’s SAR constellation and Xona’s emerging LEO PNT (position and timing) network. However, as illustrated in Figure 1, SSIT’s portfolio offers exposure to other areas such as downlink, launch, product-layer analytics and emerging “beyond Earth” applications. The allocation to these platforms has dropped at the margin since we published – from 62% as at the end of September to 60% as at the end of December, which the manager attributes to the strong performance of these businesses and ICEYE in particular.

Figure 1: SSIT portfolio by sub-sector as at 31 December 2025

Figure 2: SSIT portfolio by geography as at 31 December 2025

Figure 2 shows the portfolio’s geographical split as at 31 December 2025. The portfolio appears to have good diversification and does not seem to be overly dependent on any one jurisdiction. The UK has increased by 3 percentage points, while Europe and the rest of the world have dropped by 1 percentage point each.

Recent investment and exit activity

£2.9m invested in follow-ons

SSIT committed £2.9m to follow-on investments during the six months ended 31 December 2025, including a total of £2.6m in follow-ons into ALL.SPACE, £0.3m into Quadsat and £0.1m into Taranis. All of these follow-ons occurred during the first quarter of the current financial year and there have been no new investments so far during the current financial year.

Full exits of listed holdings – Arqit and Spire Global

As discussed in our last note, SSIT’s holding in Arqit was sold following a share price rally in early October 2025 for £3.3m, at a sale price equivalent to 15% of the initial sterling cost of the holding. Spire Global was also fully exited in October 2025 for £2.9m, at a sale price equivalent to 29% of the initial sterling cost of the holding.

Portfolio cash runway and SSIT cash burn

Figures 3 and 4 provide illustrations of the breakdown of SSIT’s portfolio by its funding requirements through to cash-flow break-even, in terms of fair value and number of companies respectively, as at 31 December 2025. These figures were based on latest projections from the portfolio companies’ management teams at that time.

Figure 3: SSIT portfolio by funding duration as at 31 December 2025 (fair value)

Figure 4: SSIT portfolio by funding duration at 31 December 2025 (number of co.s)

SSIT says that at 31 December 2025, around three quarters of its portfolio (77% of fair value) had a robust cash runway, with 70% fully funded and a further 7% funded for 12 months or more. As at 31 December 2025, the company had £22.1m of cash reserves (30 September 2025: £19.4m), with a potential £3.9m of additional liquidity from its remaining three holdings in listed companies (equivalent to 1.2% of the NAV). SSIT’s manager says that it is considered in its spend – for example, follow-on investments are very targeted – which helps mitigate the funding risk associated with its portfolio, in its view.

$2.2bn was raised by SSIT’s portfolio companies during H1 FY2026.

During the half year to 31 December 2025, SSIT’s portfolio companies raised approximately $2.2bn, already exceeding at the halfway stage the $2.1bn raised during FY2025. Over $475m of this was raised by private companies, with the remainder accounted for by listed holdings. Of the eight private companies that completed rounds, around 75% were led by or saw substantial participation from external investors. These suggest there maybe ongoing appetite for SpaceTech and possibly growing confidence in the commercial progress being made across the portfolio.

As highlighted elsewhere in this note, a number of SSIT’s core holdings have benefitted from operational momentum. In the year to 31 December 2025, revenues across the top 10 holdings grew by an average of 79%. SSIT’s manager comments that these companies are also benefitting from both improving revenue visibility and clearer pathways towards EBITDA profitability.

85% of SSIT’s portfolio value, including seven of its top 10 holdings, are projecting EBITDA profitability in 2026.

Management teams representing more than 85% of SSIT’S portfolio value, including seven of its top 10 holdings, are projecting EBITDA profitability in 2026. With SSIT also receiving income and portfolio companies raising capital at what SSIT’s manager believes are sensible valuations, this suggests that funding needs across the portfolio should be manageable.

The trust’s balance sheet remains liquid, despite the absence of new equity issuance, aided by capital recycling and selective participation in follow-on rounds, as well as exits of listed investments in Arqit and Spire.

Maturity profile

SSIT is a growth capital fund and, as such, its portfolio is skewed towards businesses that have progressed beyond the seed and Series A stages. However, it invests in companies that have already commercialised, or are in the process of commercialising, their products and are moving towards profitability.

SSIT’s manager says that it is able to benefit from Seraphim’s venture capital arm, which filters out companies that carry significant execution risk and are typically at the earliest point in their commercial development, such as start-ups. Itadds that, in practice, SSIT’s investments are concentrated in the later stages of the funding cycle, with around 70% deployed in Series C or Series D rounds – usually the final stages of private funding prior to a potential IPO.

Top holdings

Figure 5 shows SSIT’s top 10 holdings as at 31 December 2025 and how these have changed since 30 September 2025 – this being the most recently available data when we published our last note on SSIT. All of the holdings shown in Figure 5 were constituents of SSIT’s top 10 when we last published and there have only been some minor adjustments to the rankings.

As is also illustrated in Figure 5, the top four holdings – ICEYE, ALL.SPACE, D-Orbit and HawkEye 360 – have all seen significant valuation uplifts during the last half year, which were linked to completed financing rounds/corporate activity. These uplifts totalled £69m across all four holdings – requiring SSIT’s board to make an announcement on 16 February 2026, ahead of the release of the interim results on 5 March 2026.

Further discussion of SSIT’s holdings can be found in our previous notes – see page 19 of this note.

Figure 5: SSIT 10-largest holdings as at 31 December 2025

ICEYE – valuation uplift supported by strong financial delivery and defence-driven backlog

SSIT’s manager comments that ICEYE (iceye.com) has seen a step-change in both its commercial position and valuation over the past year, driven by a series of large-scale defence contract wins and materially improved financial performance. The company secured a €1.7bn multi-year agreement with the German government in December 2025, to be delivered through its joint venture with Rheinmetall. This is one of the largest contracts awarded to a commercial SAR provider and SSIt’s manager says that this reinforces ICEYE’s position at the forefront of Europe’s defence-led space investment cycle.

ICEYE’s unaudited FY2025 results saw revenue exceed €250m and EBITDA surpass €100m, alongside cash generation of over €130m from operations and a cash balance of more than €350m. The company also reported a contracted backlog of €1.5bn, providing some forward revenue visibility.

Reflecting this, SSIT has reverted back to valuing ICEYE using a basket of 15 comparable public companies, with the average EV/sales figure further reduced to discount the valuation to reflect a lack of liquidity as ICEYE is a private company. The manager believes the switch back to this method is justified by the company’s increasing scale, profitability and earnings visibility, particularly in light of the German government contract win and expanding order book.

Series of significant contract wins has continued into 2026

At the beginning of December, ICEYE announced that it had completed a €150m Series E funding round led by General Catalyst, which will be used to support further expansion of its constellation and manufacturing capabilities. This follows its announcement in October of an agreement with IHI Corporation in Japan to deliver four satellites, expanding its international footprint, and its $168m contract with the Finnish Defence Forces, that was signed in September. ICEYE began 2026 with an announcement in January that it has been awarded a contract by the Swedish Armed Forces, increasing its footprint across NATO-aligned markets.

SSIT’s manager believes ICEYE is emerging as a one of the clearest beneficiaries of rising global demand for space-based ISR, particularly as European governments seek to close capability gaps relative to the US and China. It adds that, with a growing order book, increasing geographic diversification and improving financial visibility, the company appears well positioned for further growth and underpins a significant portion of SSIT’s NAV progression discussed on pages 14 and 15.

SSIT’s manager believes there is significant upside for ICEYE once it has delivered on its IPO ambitions. Mark highlights Planet Labs – another small satellite constellation operator – that is listed on NYSE and is currently valued at c.$10bn. Mark points out that Planet Labs has lower revenues than ICEYE and, unlike ICEYE, Planet Labs is not yet profitable.

ALL.SPACE – moving closer to operational deployment as defence use cases firms up

SSIT’s manager observes that ALL.SPACE (all.space) is transitioning from development into early-stage deployment. Recent milestones highlight growing traction for its multi-orbit connectivity technology, particularly in defence applications.

A key development is the certification of ALL.SPACE’s next-generation tactical terminal capability on the SES O3b mPOWER network, achieved in collaboration with SES Space & Defense. This is the first multi-orbit, electronically steered terminal certified for the network and enables simultaneous, full-duplex connectivity across GEO and MEO from a single platform. The certification allows the terminal to support sovereign and secure communications services under existing government frameworks, including programmes of record, indicating its readiness for real-world deployment.

This builds on earlier progress, including the Hydra MAX terminal achieving Technology Readiness Level 9 (TRL9) following successful trials with the US Army under its Next Generation Tactical Terminal (NGTT) programme. The manager says that together, these developments demonstrate that ALL.SPACE’s technology has now been validated in relevant operational environments and is approaching scalable deployment.

As previously discussed, ALL.SPACE is developing a “one antenna to connect to any satellite” solution, which is intended to enable seamless interoperability across constellations and orbits. This approach appears to align with modern defence architectures that require resilient, multi-layered communications. The company’s electronically steered antenna, with no moving parts, is designed to deliver enhanced reliability in contested environments across land, maritime and mobile command applications.

SSIT’s manager highlights that these milestones demonstrate continued technical and commercial progress, and suggest increasing alignment with major defence procurement programmes and architectures. The manager believes that, as adoption accelerates, ALL.SPACE is well positioned to convert this momentum into repeat orders and broader deployment. It adds that, if ALL.SPACE can establish itself as a standard for multi-orbit connectivity, it has the potential to become a critical enabling technology within next-generation space-based communications networks.

ALL.SPACE has seen an uplift in valuation, with value at around 1.8x cost.

D-Orbit – scaling space logistics platform with fresh capital and expanding partnerships

SSIT’s manager comments that D-Orbit (dorbit.space) has continued to make steady strategic progress, reinforcing its position as a leading provider of in-orbit logistics and transportation services. It says that the company sits at the heart of an increasingly important part of the space value chain – effectively providing the “last mile” delivery infrastructure for satellites once they reach orbit.

One development was the first close of D-Orbit’s Series D funding round in January 2026, which raised €110m (€45m of which was primary capital) including a $53m tranche from the lead investor Azimut, Italy’s largest independent asset manager. The valuation from this funding round drove the uplift in SSIT’s carrying value for D-Orbit discussed in the performance section on pages 14 and 15 (its fair value now stands at around 3.6x cost). Proceeds are to be used to expand manufacturing capacity, pursue acquisitions, and further develop D-Orbit’s in-space computing capabilities. SSIT’s manager thinks that funding provides D-Orbit with the resources needed to scale its platform at a time when demand for orbital services is accelerating.

The company continues to carry out regular missions – for example, it launched two ION orbital transfer vehicles on SpaceX’s Transporter-15 mission in November, marking its 200th payload deployment. SSIT’s manager says that the ION platform is central to D-Orbit’s strategy, enabling not just satellite deployment but also hosted payloads and, increasingly, edge computing in orbit.

Alongside this, D-Orbit is expanding its international footprint and strategic relationships. A newly signed cooperation agreement with ELT Group aims to develop joint space capabilities aligned with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. This is consistent with broader industry trends, where governments appear to be prioritising domestic space capabilities and resilient infrastructure. SSIT’s manager believes the continued build-out of its ION-based network – combining transportation, hosting, and computing – positions it well to capture value as satellite constellations proliferate and demand grows for more flexible, service-based orbital architectures.

HawkEye 360 – continuing to scale its RF intelligence platform as demand accelerates

HawkEye 360 (he360.com) operates the world’s largest commercial radio frequency (RF) intelligence satellite constellation. This platform is able to detect and geolocate signals from radios, radars, and other emitters from space – a capability that SSIT’s manager says is becoming increasingly relevant as defence and security users seek to monitor activity that is otherwise invisible to traditional imaging systems. SSIT’s manager comments that the company has continued to demonstrate strong commercial and operational momentum, reinforcing its position as a leading provider of space-based radio frequency (RF) intelligence.

In December, the company completed its $150m Series E financing round, which included both equity and debt finance, and was backed by both existing and new investors. The valuation from this funding round drove the uplift in SSIT’s carrying value for HawkEye 360, which is discussed in the performance section on pages 14 and 15 (its fair value now stands at around 1.8x cost).

The proceeds were used to accelerate the acquisition and integration of Innovative Signal Analysis, which has added advanced signal-processing capabilities to the company’s offering and strengthened its analytics platform. SSIT’s manager expects these developments will allow the company to accelerate constellation expansion and data product development. As we discussed in our last note, Cluster 12 became fully operational during September and this was followed by the launch of Cluster 13 in January, increasing coverage and revisit rates. HawkEye 360 has further clusters under contract.

December also saw the company secure a multi-year data access agreement worth over $100m with an undisclosed strategic international partner. This contract appears to be part of a growing trend of defence organisations relying on commercial space-based RF intelligence and should provide the company with improved recurring revenue streams. December also saw the US Navy renew a contract worth nearly $98.8m, for a fourth consecutive year, focusing on maritime domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific.

SSIT’s manager believes that HawkEye 360 is well positioned to benefit from structural increases in defence spending and the growing importance of multi-source intelligence. It says that, as ISR requirements evolve beyond imagery to include signals intelligence, HawkEye 360’s differentiated dataset and expanding analytics capabilities should support continued growth. It adds that the key focus will be on scaling its constellation and converting strong demand into further sustained, recurring revenues.

On 10 April 2026, HawkEye 360 announced that it had filed a registration statement for a proposed IPO on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “HAWK”, which was followed by an amended registration statement on 27 April that also included a prospectus.

Based on the midpoint of the indicated $24–$26 offer range, HawkEye 360 would be valued at around $2.36bn on a fully diluted basis, implying a post-money valuation of approximately $2.76bn after the planned $400m capital raise. For SSIT, which valued the holding at 10.1% of NAV at 31 December 2025, the indicated pricing suggests an uplift of approximately £11.1m, or 4.66p per share, equivalent to approximately 3.3% of NAV.

Assuming the IPO proceeds, SSIT’s stake will be subject to a six-month lock-up post IPO. While SSIT’s strategy is to realise long-term value through exiting its investments over time, it can continue to continue to hold portfolio companies post IPO until it determines an appropriate time to make the disposal.

LeoLabs – building momentum as commercial SSA becomes increasingly important

As discussed in our previous note, LeoLabs (leolabs.space)has continued to expand its activities in space situational awareness (SSA), a segment that appears to be gaining significance as orbital congestion increases and governments seek greater visibility over space assets. The company’s ground-based radar network is capable of tracking objects as small as 2cm in low earth orbit, supporting both collision avoidance and broader space domain awareness.

LeoLabs reported more than $60m of contract awards in 2025, which the company says was driven in part by growth in US government demand, reflecting what appears to be a broader trend toward reliance on commercial providers for SSA data. SSIT’s manager says this allows governments to augment their own capabilities with more scalable, real-time solutions.

LeoLabs is also continuing to expand its infrastructure footprint. New radar systems are under development, including the first “Scout” radar in Hawaii (expected to be operational in 2026) and a “Seeker” radar planned for the Indo-Pacific region. These additions are expected to extend coverage and may enhance tracking accuracy in areas identified as strategically important. LeoLabs has also secured contracts to integrate its data into US government systems, including the US Space Force’s Unified Data Library, embedding its services within national space architectures.

SSIT’s manager observes that, as the number of satellites in orbit continues to increase, the need for reliable tracking and collision avoidance is likely to grow, particularly as defence agencies place greater emphasis on space domain awareness. The manager believes that LeoLabs is well positioned to benefit from these structural trends and that its combination of proprietary radar infrastructure and scalable data products provides a defensible competitive position, although continued investment will be required to expand coverage globally. According to the manager, the key driver from here will be converting strong government demand into longer-term, recurring revenue streams.

SSIT’s manager believes that the ‘Golden Dome’ in the US may offer an opportunity for LeoLabs in the year ahead.

Performance

H1 FY26

As of 31 December 2025, SSIT reported a total NAV of £337.5m (142.30p per share), representing a 20.1% increase from the £281.1m (118.52p per share) NAV that SSIT reported at 30 June 2025. It is also an increase of 40.8% over the course of 2025 (total NAV as at 31 December 2024 was £239.7m or 101.04p per share).

As was the case when we last published, the largest contributor to this growth was unrealised fair value gains within its portfolio – £101.4m or 42.74p per share – which appears to have been supported by defence and geopolitical trends. These gains more than offset realised losses of £26.3m (11.09p per share), which relate to the sale of SSIT’s listed holdings in Arqit and Spire, for proceeds of £3.3m and £2.9m respectively, in October 2025. The sales are discussed on page 8 as well as in our last note.

Valuation increases for SSIT’s top four holdings

On 16 February 2026, SSIT announced valuation increases for its top four holdings ahead of the announcement of its interim results. These were: ICEYE (an increase of £33m or 34% for its value at the end of December 2025 versus the end of September 2025), ALL.SPACE (£24m or 80%), D-Orbit (£8m or 23%) and HawkEye360 (£4m or 15%) with a total uplift in valuation for these four of £69m. The drivers for these uplifts are discussed in more detail in the top 10 holdings section on pages 9 to 14.

These valuation gains were sufficiently large that a performance fee provision of £16.6m has been included within the NAV calculation. However, the manager has reiterated that payment of the performance fee is subject to a number of conditions that have not yet been met, which include both sufficient cash being available as well as the aggregate of net realised gains, unrealised IPO gains, listed holding fair value change and investment income exceeding the amount to be paid out.

Further NAV growth expected

SSIT’s manager continues to view the changes in defence and geopolitical trends as significant long-term tailwinds. It expects these factors to drive quarter-on-quarter NAV growth during the next year and beyond, as recently contracts convert to revenue growth for portfolio companies and further contracts are signed.

Breakdown of portfolio valuation changes

The breakdown of the changes in the fair value of SSIT’s individual holdings over the period is shown in Figure 6. The total value of SSIT’s portfolio companies increased by £71.8m, or 27.6%, over the half year, from £259.8m to £331.6m. Six new funding rounds were closed by existing portfolio companies during the half year. These included funding rounds for ICEYE, D-ORBIT and HawkEye360. SatVu completed a £30m funding round with new investment from the NATO Innovation Fund and British Business Bank in February.

SSIT’s manager has reiterated its previous comments that the strength of the unrealised gains reflects the extent of the significant progress made in the underlying holdings. It adds that part of its approach is to engage with its holdings and provide support in realising these gains over time via IPOs, M&A deals, or secondary market sales.

Figure 6: Investment portfolio movements

SSIT’s portfolio companies do not generally follow fixed valuation schedules. Instead, fair values are updated in response to specific events – such as funding rounds, commercial milestones, or material operational developments. While this approach appears to reduce NAV volatility, it can lead to periods where a holding’s valuation does not see any fair value progression.

Xona – 167% valuation uplift following completion of latest funding round

On 26 March 2026, SSIT’s announced a material uplift in the valuation of its holding in Xona Space Systems, following the completion of an oversubscribed US$170m series C funding round. This resulted in a 167% increase in the fair value of SSIT’s holding, from £10.5m at end-December 2025 to £28.0m, adding approximately £17.5m – or 7.37p per share – to SSIT’s NAV.

We have discussed Xona (www.xonaspace.com) in our previous notes on SSIT but, to recap, the company is developing a next-generation low-earth orbit satellite navigation system that is designed to enhance the accuracy and resilience of existing GPS infrastructure. SSIT’s manager says that this is a good example of the benefits of having exposure to dual-use SpaceTech as, in addition to its use in civilian applications, this technology is becoming increasingly critical for defence and national security applications, providing a virtuous circle.

Xona’s technology is able to deliver centimetre-level positioning accuracy – approximately 50-100x improvement over traditional GPS – through a simple software upgrade to existing devices. SSIT’s manager comments that this is a step-change in precision and reliability, which it expects to unlock a wide range of high-value applications, including autonomous vehicles, drones, robotics and advanced air mobility solutions as well as supporting next-generation industrial and logistics use cases.

SSIT’s manager highlights that existing satellite navigation systems already support trillions of dollars of global economic activity, bracing critical infrastructure across transportation, telecommunications, financial systems and supply chains. It says that, by enhancing both the accuracy and resilience of positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services, Xona is positioning itself at the forefront of the next evolution of global GPS infrastructure.

SSIT’s manager highlights Xona as being a great example of its broader development programme. Seraphim first engaged with Xona’s founder when he was still at business school, bringing him onto its accelerator programme to help him get ready for raising money. Seraphim then co-led all of Xona’s early rounds of financing, with SSIT then following on in later rounds.

Portfolio returns

SSIT’s positive NAV growth was driven by unrealised returns

From inception on 14 July 2021 to 28 February 2026, SSIT has delivered a NAV total return of 45.2%. While SSIT’s listed equity allocation has been a detractor to SSIT’s performance, this has been more than offset by the increase in the value of its unlisted portfolio, which has accelerated recently.

Figure 7: SSIT performance from launch to 31 March 2026

We continue to use the MSCI World Aerospace and Defence Index as a comparator for SSIT. As we have discussed in our previous notes, the index started to pull away significantly from October 2023, coinciding with the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza conflict. Since then, geopolitical tensions have remained elevated and, in line with commitments by Europe to spend more on defence, the index has diverged at a faster rate.

Figure 8: SSIT performance over periods ended 31 March 2026

However, perhaps as the market has started to recognise the dual use nature of SpaceTech, and strong valuation uplifts have come through to SSIT’s portfolio, SSIT’s NAV has been starting to narrow the gap. SSIT’s manager says that the war in Ukraine illustrated SpaceTech’s importance and the recent hostilities in Iran have only underlined that message.

SSIT’s manager believes that approximately 70% of its portfolio has defence applications, and that its investee companies continue to demonstrate growing profitability – 85% of the portfolio is expected to be EBITDA profitable this year.

Premium/(discount)

As Figure 9 illustrates, SSIT has seen a significant improvement in its rating during the last year, and particularly during the last six months. This may reflect greater geopolitical tensions and increased defence spending.

Figure 9: SSIT premium/(discount) from launch¹

Over the last 12 months, SSIT’s shares have traded within a range between a 50.1% discount to NAV to a 48.7% premium to NAV, averaging at a 20.5% discount. On 27 April 2026, SSIT was trading at a 33.6 premium. In contrast, the growth capital peer group average discount ranged between 45.3% and a 15.0% discount, and has averaged 30.6%. As at 27 April 2024, the peer group average discount was 17.4%.

The manager observes that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine continues to highlight both the dual uses of SpaceTech, and its critical nature in defence, putting downward pressure on SSIT’s discount, driving it back to a small premium.

Potential fundraise via a C-share issue

On 16 April 2026, SSIT’s board published a circular outlining a potential C-share offering that could raise up to £350m. Open to both institutional investors through a placing and retail investors through a Retail Book, the issue will allow the trust to raise fresh capital without creating cash drag for existing shareholders while the proceeds are deployed.

Previous publications

Readers interested in further information about SSIT may wish to read our previous notes (details are provided in Figure 10 below). You can read the notes by clicking on them in Figure 10 or by visiting our website.

Figure 10: QuotedData’s previously published notes on SSIT

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