NorthStar Earth & Space said it will ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Friday, a week after its shares began trading. The company also announced this week a technical director for its U.S. operation.
The Montreal headquartered company that uses satellites sensors for space domain awareness, said the ceremony “represents an important step in NorthStar’s mission to deliver timely intelligence on activities in space that may threaten essential services.”
“Now, we have a stronger voice as we continue to advance our mission,” chief executive Stewart Bain said in the release.
NorthStar went public by merging with Viking Acquisition Corp. I (Viking), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), a shell company that lists on an exchange to raise money, then uses it to buy a private business.
Viking sold 23 million shares at $10 in November 2025 when it did its IPO as SPAC. When NorthStar went public holders of 96.4 per cent of Viking’s public shares, 22.2 million of the 23 million, elected to redeem their shares instead of staying in. That made the private placement, $US 30 million, by Cartesian Capital Group the deal’s main source of cash. NorthStar filed its Form 20-F with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week. Its pro forma figures show the SPAC deal left the company about $32.5 million, in Canadian dollars, after deal costs and loan repayments.
NorthStar’s cash from the SPAC deal Canadian dollars Cash released from the trust 12,157,010 New money from the private placement (PIPE) 32,995,643 Gross cash 45,152,653 Transaction costs −10,433,217 Promissory notes repaid −2,036,299 Deferred underwriting fee (cash portion) −174,947 Net cash 32,508,190
The company trades under the ticker NSTR on the NYSE American, a separate exchange that primarily focuses on small-cap equities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and options. The company began trading on Oct. 2 when they closed their first day at $US 4.45.
On Wednesday, NorthStar announced that Armelle Franklin is a technical director for its U.S. arm in Virginia. She will direct technical development so that NorthStar’s system architecture and product performance match U.S. customer requirements, the release says. Franklin joins from Titania Solutions Group, where the release says she built partnerships with the U.S. intelligence community, and previously led large space defence programs at Northrop Grumman. The release does not say when Franklin started bur her LinkedIn profile lists an August start date.
“Her expertise will help ensure the services we deliver fit the current and future needs of US space defense & intelligence,” chief technology officer Peter Klimas said in the release. His promotion to that post was announced Sept. 28.
NorthStar’s U.S. defence customers that are listed include the U.S. Space Force’s Joint Commercial Operations Cell and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. In Canada they are partnered with 3 Canadian Space Division.