Spacecraft Propulsion Equipment.
Picture credit score: Astra House.
Welcome to S-SPACi! In at present’s version, Astra shares took a header after a narrative by Bloomberg, Spire and Momentus gained contracts, Planet’s latest satellite tv for pc was shipped for launch, Rocket Lab formally opened an engine improvement middle in Virgin Orbit’s outdated headquarters, Virgin Galactic accomplished one other suborbital tourism flight, and the US Declaration of Independence is headed for the Moon.
Astra shares plunge on Bloomberg report
Shares of Astra House (Nasdaq: ASTR) plunged 24.4 % to shut at $0.99 on Wednesday (October 11) following a Bloomberg article saying that the struggling firm is contemplating promoting a 51 % stake of its in-space propulsion subsidiary. The story additionally mentioned Astra is weighing the sale of apparatus and components from the manufacturing unit the place the corporate manufactures launch automobiles.
Promoting a stake within the propulsion subsidiary would offer some funding for the cash-strapped firm. Astra reported income of $770,000 and a web lack of $58.9 million throughout the first half of 2023. The corporate’s money, money equivalents, and marketable securities had shrunk to $26.3 million as of June 30.
Final month, Astra filed paperwork with the Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) to boost as much as $100 million by way of the sale of frequent and most popular inventory, debt securities, debt warrants, fairness warrants, rights, and items.
Astra undertook a 1-for-15 reverse inventory cut up on September 14 in an effort to elevate its inventory worth above $1.00 and keep away from being delisted from the Nasdaq inventory alternate. In a reverse inventory cut up, a lot of shares are exchanged for a smaller variety of extra priceless shares, thus elevating the inventory worth.
Astra, which initially targeted on constructing launch automobiles, obtained the in-space propulsion enterprise when it acquired Apollo Fusion in 2021.
House SPAC Index
October 11, 2023
| Firm | First Buying and selling Day | Opening Share Worth | Excessive | Closing Worth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astra House (Nasdaq: ASTR) | July 1, 2021 | $12.30 | $16.95 (7/2/21) | $0.99 |
| AST SpaceMobile (Nasdaq: ASTS) | April 7, 2021 | $11.63 | $15.48 (6/30/21) | $3.44 |
| BigBear.ai (NYSE: BBAI) | Dec. 8, 2021 | $9.84 | $16.12 (4/6/22) | $1.40 |
| BlackSky (NYSE: BKSY) | Sept. 10, 2021 | $11.80 | $13.20 (9/16/21) | $1.29 |
| Intuitive Machines (Nasdaq: LUNR) | Feb. 14, 2023 | $10.00 | $136.00 (2/20/23) | $3.83 |
| Momentus (Nasdaq: MNTS) | Aug. 13, 2021 | $10.85 | 12.87 (9/7/21) | $1.79 |
| Planet Labs (NYSE: PL) | Dec. 8, 2021 | $11.25 | $11.65 (12/8/21) | $2.46 |
| Redwire (NYSE: RDW) | Sept. 3, 2021 | $10.70 | $16.98 (10/25/21) | $2.80 |
| Rocket Lab (Nasdaq: RKLB) | Aug. 25, 2021 | $11.58 | $21.34 (9/9/21) | $4.83 |
| Satellogic (Nasdaq: SATL) | Jan. 26, 2022 | $9.19 | $10.92 (5/4/22) | $1.07 |
| SatixFy (NYSE AMERICAN: SATX) | Oct. 28, 2022 | $8.29 | $51.70 (11/17/22) |
$0.54 |
| Spire International (NYSE: SPIR) | Aug. 17, 2021 | $10.25 | $19.50 (9/22/21) | $4.10 |
| Terran Orbital (NYSE: LLAP) | March 28, 2022 | $12.69 | $12.69 (3/28/22) | $0.72 |
| Virgin Galactic (NYSE: SPCE) | Oct. 28, 2019 | $11.79 | $62.80 (2/4/21) | $1.65 |
Spire International wins contract to enhance maritime transport
Spire International (NYSE: SPIR) won a contract from MAN Vitality Options (MAN-ES) to supply climate and real-time computerized identification system information to enhance gasoline effectivity and optimize routes within the maritime transport trade.
“MAN-ES will combine Spire AIS and climate information into – amongst different instruments – its digital answer, MAN-CEON, a digital platform used to assist monitoring and advisory instruments for the decarbonisation and optimisation of marine, energy and industrial tools. This integration goals to supply prospects with improved efficiency, troubleshooting and decarbonisation insights,” Spire mentioned in a press launch.
Momentus wins contract, ships payloads for launch
Momentus (Nasdaq: MNTS) won a contract from C3S to supply transportation and orbital supply providers for the corporate’s payloads in 2025. Momentus delivered C3S’s VIREO payload to orbit in April 2023.
Momentus additionally announced it has built-in and shipped 5 satellites to Vandenberg House Pressure Base for launch aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-9 mission in November. The 5 satellites embrace:
- AMAN-1 Earth remark satellite tv for pc for SatRev of Poland,
- JINJUSat-1 Earth remark satellite tv for pc for the CONTEC Firm of South Korea,
- Picacho sub-surface imaging satellite tv for pc for U.S.-based Lunasonde, and
- Hiya Check 1 & 2 Web of Issues satellites for Hiya House of Turkey.
Planet’s Pelican-1 demonstration satellite tv for pc prepared for launch
Planet Labs (NYSE: PL) announced that its Pelican-1 know-how demonstration satellite tv for pc and 36 SuperDove Earth remark spacecraft have arrived at Vandenberg House Pressure Base in preparation for launch in November.
Pelican-1 is the primary of Planet’s new satellite tv for pc fleet designed to supply high-resolution pictures. The satellite tv for pc won’t present commercially-available information, however will take a look at know-how and supply information that can permit Planet’s engineers to develop a fleet of superior Pelican spacecraft.
“When totally operational, the Pelican constellation is deliberate to enhance upon each dimension of Planet’s current high-resolution SkySat constellation – quicker acquisition and supply of information, higher spatial decision to see finer particulars, larger revisit to catch fleeting occasions, and extra methods to mix insights with different analytics and sensors,” the corporate mentioned in a press launch.
Rocket Lab opens Engine Improvement Heart
Rocket Lab (Nasdaq: RKLB) formally opened its new Engine Improvement Heart in Lengthy Seaside, California final week. The corporate will use the 144,000+ sq. foot facility to extend manufacturing of 3D printed Rutherford engines for the Electron rocket. Engineers can even develop and manufacture the Archimedes engine for Rocket Lab’s new Neutron booster.
The middle was previously the headquarters and manufacturing facility of Virgin Orbit, which declared chapter and ceased operations earlier this yr. Rocket Lab assumed the lease on the power and purchased the manufacturing unit’s property, equipment, and tools for $16.1 million in Could 2023.
Virgin Galactic completes fourth business flight
Virgin Galactic (NYSE: SPCE) flew three extra of its “founder” ticketholders on a suborbital flight on October 6. The paying prospects included:
- American science educator Ron Rosano,
- British promoting government Trevor Beattie, and
- House Belief Founder Namira Salim of Pakistan.
Chief Astronaut Teacher Beth Moses joined them within the passenger cabin. Commander Kelly Latimer and pilot CJ Sturckow flew VSS Unity on its suborbital flight. Commander Nicola Pecile and pilot Jameel Janjua piloted the VMS Eve mothership that air-launched the spacecraft.
Declaration of Independence headed for the Moon
The Declaration of Independence signed in 1776 by 13 former British colonies is headed for the Moon. Properly, not a paper copy of the unique declaration, however an digital copy that will likely be transmitted to and saved aboard Intuitive Machines’ (Nasdaq: LUNR) Nova-C lunar lander, set for launch later this yr. Lonestar Knowledge Holdings will transmit the doc to exhibit its “catastrophe restoration as a service” capabilities and plans to ascertain information facilities on the Moon.
“We’re thrilled to be on the forefront of this historic second in information storage and restoration. Transmitting the US Declaration of Independence to the Moon is a testomony to the reliability and resilience of our Catastrophe Restoration as a Service (DRaaS) options,” mentioned Lonestar Knowledge Founder and CEO Chris Stott.
