Rocket launch startup Astra is the latest space company to go public By Chris Ciaccia 11 February 2021 Astra's Rocket 3.1 launches from the Pacific Spaceport Complex in … Kemp said Astra built four rockets last year and stood up three for launch attempts, although Rocket 3.0 was destroyed after an anomaly on the launchpad. Astra, a stealthy new-space startup company co-founded by Adam London and Chris Kemp during October 2016, began development of its small orbital launch vehicle during 2017. Ad Astra is hoping to one day use its VASIMR ® engine to power a solar electric tug configured as a “space cleaner” that will be capable of removing a significant number of large debris objects in a single mission. Astra goes to … The startup will have a pro forma enterprise value of about $2.1 billion. ", "That's the current state of the industry, and it sucks," he said. "You're talking about nearly a launch a day," said Ken Herbert, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity. Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. Teams in Alaska supported the launch of Astra’s first orbital test flight, featuring the company’s Rocket 3.1 launcher. "It didn't happen at Facebook or Google or Amazon, and I think these [are the kind of companies] we aspire to be like.". Observers in Kodiak, Alaska, were treated to some pyrotechnics Friday night, as the start-up Astra Space Inc. tried to reach orbit with its 38-foot-tall rocket for the first time. For the Rocket 3.2 launch in December, Kemp noted that one of the five employees Astra had sent to Kodiak, Alaska tested positive for COVID-19. But, as Kemp noted above, Astra wants to build more than just rockets. For starters, its 40-foot-tall rocket puts it in the sub-sector of small launch vehicles – a category of the space industry that analysts and executives estimate has in excess of 100 startups in various stages of development. The practice of "ridesharing" on launches has become common, as small satellites hitch a ride on big rockets to get into space for lower prices. All those ventures are looking to compete with the small rocket leader Rocket Lab. Rocket launch company Astra, which just reached space this past December with a test launch from Alaska, will be going public on the Nasdaq via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) called Holicity. Astra became the latest private rocket builder to reach space for the first time in December, after its Rocket 3.2 vehicle launched from Alaska. As for the $30 million venture funding round that Astra closed prior to announcing the SPAC merger, that effort included a $10 million infusion from Holicity's sponsors. The other differentiator Astra has from other small rocket builders is minimal and mobile infrastructure required for launches, which Kemp says will become a money-maker as a spaceport service. "We're actually building a space platform – in much the same way that when Amazon started, they weren't marketing themselves as a delivery truck company or a warehouse company," Kemp said. space weather and space plasma physics research[14]. But Kemp says it's a "nightmare" for those small satellites, as "they all get dumped off in the same place. Astra noted that, while it sees significant growth in the years ahead, the market "is still emerging" and "not well established." "There are 80 space agencies and 75 of them have no way to get to space," Kemp said. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox. Industry giants and a wave of new startups are racing to create trillions of dollars of new economic activity in space. Kemp expects that price point to drop as Astra accelerates to a weekly launch rate in 2023 and beyond. Astra builds 95% of the rocket … “Astra is becoming a publicly traded company to accelerate our journey to make low Earth orbit the next frontier for human innovation. v. Rubbia’s engine (optional: superconductive MPD rocket) Astra, like Rocket Lab, is being brought public by a SPAC, or a special purpose acquisition company. The recent SPAC craze has already extended to the New Space sector, and Virgin Galactic was among those in this wave of a new path to public listing, so there is precedent for space launch in particular, but Astra will be the first to list on the Nasdaq. That includes a $30 million funding round, previously unreported by media, that the rocket builder closed prior to announcing its SPAC deal. According to Kemp, Astra’s chief executive officer, some minor tweaks should solve the issue and allow Astra to fly again this summer. The cash proceeds expected from the deal also include a 30 million venture funding round that Astra closed in the weeks before the Holicity SPAC merger was announced. Kemp said Astra is "trying to build a 100-year plan" and last year was "running things lean" during the beginning of the pandemic to complete its rocket development testing. The company is targeting a weekly launch rate in 2023, with 55 launches bringing in $206 million in revenue. It will list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ASTR when the deal closes. Astra’s rocket will be capable of carrying less cargo than Rocket Lab’s, although it will only charge $3 million per launch. CEO Chris Kemp spoke to CNBC, differentiating his company from a pack of competitors and explaining how Astra will hit an unprecedented launch rate with daily deliveries in under five years. Astra's investor presentation disclosed that the company has more than $150 million in contracted revenue from government and commercial customers to launch more than 100 spacecraft. Space Propulsion. "Rockets are always going to be a cylinder, so [a disc is] the perfect form factor to put inside a cylinder, where you don't waste any volume in the rocket, and then you can stack them," Kemp said. The company has a future expansion to complete with the SPAC capital, beginning with more investment in its rocket factory. Ultimately, Astra aims to be launching payloads on a daily cadence by 2025, and in a blog post accompanying the SPAC news, Astra founder and CEO Chris Kemp said that it's … Astra's Rocket 3.1 rises into the sky above Alaska's Pacific Spaceport Complex during the company's first orbital launch attempt on Sept. 11, … "Companies that are building long-term businesses and founders that are committed to a long-term vision or company don't let investors take over their company," Kemp said. The two-stage LOX/kerosene fueled vehicle is named "Rocket" and is identified here as "Astra Rocket". ", Launch startup Astra’s rocket reaches space. ... SPAC mergers like the Astra-Holicity deal have become popular … David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images. Northern California space-transportation company Astra Space Inc. intends to be the first maker of small rockets to go public in the U.S., using a blank-check company, or SPAC… Credit: Astra/John Kraus ... An Astra Space executive did not respond to … The Holicity (HOL) SPAC is taking Elon Musk’s SpaceX competitor Astra public. Astra offers launch services of payloads ranging from 50 to 150 kilograms, or as much as 330 pounds, and expects to begin deliveries into space by the end of the year. Astra highlighted that it has "not yet delivered customer satellites into orbit using any of our launch vehicles or rockets, and any setbacks we may experience during our first commercial launch planned for 2021 and other demonstration and commercial missions could have a material adverse effect on our business.". CINEMA has obtained their Stage 4 Spectrum Certi cation for the 2200-2290 MHz Space Research band. Astra's board of directors includes Kemp, co-founder and chief technology officer Dr. Adam London, Advance executive Nomi Bergman and ACME venture capital partner Scott Stanford. Ad Astra Rocket Company / 141 W. Bay Area Blvd / Webster, TX 77598 / info@adastrarocket.com 281.526.0500 / 281.526.0599 (fax) 011.506.2666.9272 (Costa Rica) 0049.6192.902591 (Germany) Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis. The company's headquarters near the San Francisco Bay in California. It's ambitious – nobody's ever done it. Astra, based in Alameda, California, raised the smaller round to help it "go faster" while the merger awaits regulatory approval, with Holicity's sponsor Pendrell Corporation and existing investors such as Marc Benioff contributing. "It's like putting a FedEx truck on a plane and flying it to New York and then driving it back to Los Angeles, and then driving the truck off a cliff.". Although the rocket did not reach orbit on that mission, Astra's leadership viewed the launch as clearing the final hurdles needed to begin commercial service later this year. Rocket launch startup Astra readies for orbital test flight as early as Sunday. Rocket builder Astra is going to be the next publicly traded space stock, merging with SPAC Holicity to go public at a $2.1 billion valuation. Ultimately, Astra aims to be launching payloads on a daily cadence by 2025, and in a blog post accompanying the SPAC news, Astra founder and CEO Chris Kemp said that it's also intent on "building a platform of space services" that implies ambitions beyond its work today on rockets. "Our entire system packs into four shipping containers, which we can put on a C-130 Hercules [aircraft], on a truck, on a ship – and we've done all of those things already," Kemp said. The company quarantined the original team in hotel rooms, chartered a plane and flew up five more people to launch the rocket. Why Astra built a space startup and rocket factory in Silicon Valley, Like us on Facebook to see similar stories, Peloton apologizes for not recalling deadly treadmills sooner, These 15 Companies Struck Gold During Lockdown.