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LAUNCH · OPERATOR PROFILE · DATA AS OF 2026-05-14

Phantom Space

Active Launch Private HQ: Tucson, Arizona Founded 2019

Small launch vehicle and satellite manufacturing startup founded by Jim Cantrell, one of SpaceX's original co-founders. Developing the Daytona rocket, a small launch vehicle designed for dedicated smallsat launches with a focus on affordability and high launch cadence. Also building the Lagrange satellite bus platform for rapid, low-cost satellite production. Based in Tucson, Arizona, with a vertically integrated approach — building both the rocket and the satellites it launches. The company aims to offer end-to-end space access: satellite manufacturing plus dedicated launch. Competes with Rocket Lab, Firefly, and ABL Space in the small launch market, which remains crowded with many contenders but few operationally proven vehicles. Cantrell's SpaceX founding pedigree provides credibility, but the company faces significant execution risk in both launch vehicle development and satellite manufacturing scale-up simultaneously.

39.1
ARI Composite
Very High Risk
#21 of 22
Peer Rank
Launch cohort
Total Launches
No flights tracked
Estimated valuation
Not disclosed

FINANCIAL HEALTH

39.1
ARI composite · Very High Risk
Peer rank#21 of 22
Peer groupLaunch
Data coverage82%

SECTOR POSITION

Primary sectorLaunch
Rank within sector#21 of 22
Tracked peers22

REGISTRY DATA

Legal namePhantom Space Corporation
OwnershipPrivate
HeadquartersTucson, Arizona
CountryUS
Founded2019
FounderJim Cantrell
CEOJim Cantrell
AliasesPhantom Space, PHANTOM SPACE, PHANTOM SPACE CORPORATION, Phantom Space Corp
Key programsDaytona small launch vehicle, Lagrange satellite bus platform, Rapid satellite manufacturing
Gov customersDoD, Space Force
IPO statusPrivate — venture-backed startup

Source: space_company_registry.json · Operator homepage → · Phantom Space corporate homepage — confirms Daytona launch vehicle and smallsat manufacturing operations in Tucson.

METHODOLOGY

Launch history and subsystem outcomes aggregate from AstraVeris's launch_events table with Wilson 95% lower bounds on success rates. ARI scores come from the 11-factor composite (/finance/methodology/). Constellation counts derive from the live CelesTrak/GCAT object catalog. Gov contracts from USAspending.gov awards; private deals from deduplicated pipeline deal extraction. Absence of a row means "not tracked" — we never fabricate. See /methodology/ for the full data model and /data-licensing/ for licensing terms.

Not investment advice. For insurance underwriting, verify against primary-source filings and operator investigation reports.