“Of or pertaining to gravity” For all the talk of Starship, the company isn’t putting all its eggs in that one, Musk-y basket. The suite of StarMax modules under development are being designed to be compatible on other next-gen launch vehicles, like United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan and Blue Origin’s New Glenn. While Gravitics is staying tight-lipped on how much a single StarMax might cost, Doughan said it would be competitive with a recent deal between Axiom Space and Thales Alenia for two station modules, a contract valued at €110 million ($108 million), or $54 million each. The company recently opened a 42,000-square-foot facility just north of Seattle where it has already begun constructing prototypes and preparing for early module pressure tests early next year. Gravitics is also in talks with development groups in Florida about building a larger production and integration facility right next to their customer base at Kennedy Space Center. In addition to these physical spaces, the company will also use the funds from this seed round to continue growing its team. It has already attracted notable talent, like the aforementioned Macklin and Bill Tandy, former mission architect and chief engineer for Orbital Reef. The pressure tests in the first quarter of next year are the initial step toward testing a StarMax in orbit, though Doughan declined to offer any details on that timeline. But it’s safe to say that the company is moving fast — as are all the companies hoping to operate the next generation of space stations — in the face of the impending decommissioning of the ISS at the end of the decade. NASA officials have been clear that they want no space station gap, and they’re willing to help fund ventures to ensure a strong American presence in orbit. To keep up with this pace, Gravitics is taking preorders now for delivery in 2026. By now the company name must have struck you. Gravitic — according to some online dictionaries, it’s an archaic word meaning of or pertaining to gravity, one that’s mostly been replaced by the word gravitational. Doughan and Waked are adamant that the company is laser focused on meeting the needs of customers today with the zero G StarMax modules. But Doughan admits that the company’s true “north star,” as he put it, is gravitic solutions, with a lowercase “g”: space stations that recreate Earth’s gravity to enable a truly long-term human presence in orbit. “If we’re going to truly make space our heritage, and really extend human flourishing through the solar system, gravitic solutions are really the only way that that’s going to happen. Although that’s not today, that continues to be the north star for the company.” Topics