Title
Introduction of Ordinance Authorizing the Interim City Manager to Execute Documents Necessary to Implement a Ten-Year Lease with SpinLaunch Inc., a California Corporation, for Building 530, Located at 120 West Oriskany Avenue at Alameda Point. (Base Reuse 819099)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: David L. Rudat, Interim City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This action will authorize the City Manager to execute a ten-year lease, significantly in the form of the attached, with SpinLaunch, a spaceflight technology development company, for Building 530 at Alameda Point.
BACKGROUND
SpinLaunch is a spaceflight technology development company working on catapult technology to move payloads to space. The company was founded in 2015, by CEO Jonathan Yaney. The company has been working on an electric-powered kinetic energy launch system that starts by whipping the spaceflight vehicle around on a centrifuge, then catapults it spaceward at hypersonic speeds. As of February 2018, the company was operating as a stealth startup, and was working to raise $30 million in funding to support Research and Development (R&D) operations. Recently, SpinLaunch announced reaching its investment goal by an investment syndicate including Airbus Ventures, GV (formerly Google Ventures) and Kleiner Perkins.
DISCUSSION
SpinLaunch is interested in moving its Sunnyvale operations to Alameda Point, which will serve as the headquarters and research and operations center. Building 530 (Exhibit 1) will serve as the hub for the centrifuge and testing. The ability to provide a research and operations hub is key to SpinLaunch's expansion and innovation. The CEO says that "applying the initial performance boost from a terrestrial-based launch platform enables SpinLaunch to lower the cost of space launching by orders of magnitude and launch many times per day."
The recent funding will be used to scale-up the team and technology and bring Building 530 up t...
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