Ex-NASA chief takes Quantum Space public at $1.2bn

This article was published on June 8, 2026 Jim Bridenstine's manoeuvrable-spacecraft startup, co-founded by serial space entrepreneur Kam Ghaffarian, will list on Nasdaq via a SPAC merger, riding a wave of space-market debuts. The last time Jim Bridenstine shaped America’s space ambitions, he ran NASA. Now he is betting he can build the hardware for the next phase of the space race, and he wants public investors to fund it. Quantum Space, the Maryland startup Bridenstine now leads, is going public through a merger with a blank-cheque company, Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. VI, in a deal valuing the combined business at about $1.2bn. The transaction includes a $300mn private investment, would list the company on Nasdaq under the ticker “QSPC”, and is expected to close in the final quarter of 2026. Bridenstine served as NASA administrator from 2018 to 2021, overseeing the agency’s push to open spaceflight to commercial players. Quantum Space was co-founded by its executive chairman, Kam Ghaffarian, a serial space entrepreneur whose other ventures include the lunar-lander company Intuitive Machines, the commercial space-station builder Axiom Space, and the nuclear firm X-energy. A