 The space technology industry saw an acceleration in the number of announced mergers with special-purpose acquisition companies SPACs so far in 2021, with 11 space-related companies announcing they are coming to market via deals with blank check vehicles. In total, the first quarter has seen US7.2bn of intended funding for the space sector, compared to US7.7bn for the whole of last year, according to research by Seraphim Capital, which managed the Seraphim SpaceTech Index. 