Space entrepreneur Max Polyakov acquires SA's Dragonfly satellite maker

Max Polyakov, an ultra-wealthy entrepreneur with ambitions of building a space transportation empire, has acquired South African satellite maker Dragonfly Aerospace, he told Reuters.

The deal gives Polyakov an anchor point in the booming but fiercely competitive market for small-satellite technology, and a potential revenue source for rocket maker Firefly Aerospace, which is majority-owned by Polyakov's Noosphere Ventures investment fund.

"This deal gives us cost-control and mass production of components," Polyakov told Reuters by phone. "It allows us to bring everything in-house."

The acquisition comes amid a frenzy of capital infusions and blank-cheque deal-making around a new breed of firms building miniaturised launch systems to cash in on the exponential growth of compact satellites needing a ride to orbit in the coming years.

One of them told Reuters an announcement on an initial infusion could be made in the coming days.

A Firefly spokesperson declined to comment.

Polyakov hopes Dragonfly's satellites could launch on Firefly's Alpha rocket, which Polyakov said could potentially debut before the end of June.

Firefly, US-New Zealand start-up Rocket Lab and billionaire British entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit are front-runners in a long list of small-launch providers seeking to cash in on the small satellite trend.

Polyakov plans to expand Dragonfly Aerospace's presence with new facilities in the US and Europe, he said, without providing a specific time frame.