Astra Space, the launch company that made headlines in 2021 by going public with a staggering $2.1 billion valuation, is now suddenly taking a step back and reverting to its private status. This decision comes after months of financial struggling and failed attempts to secure additional funding.
The company’s CEO, Chris Kemp, and CTO, Adam London, announced on Thursday that they will be purchasing the remaining Astra stock at a price of $0.50 per share. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024, resulting in Astra being delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange.
This is a dramatic turnaround for the company, which managed to raise almost $500 million from investors based on promises of a cost-efficient launch vehicle with the potential to carry out hundreds of missions annually. In a presentation to investors in February 2021, Astra boasted about its “mass produced portable launch system” that could launch from anywhere in the world, with plans for a bi-weekly launch schedule in 2024.
Unfortunately, these ambitious plans never came to fruition, despite Astra’s successful launch into orbit. The company faced numerous setbacks, including a concerning sideways launch incident in 2021 and multiple failed attempts at commercial launches over the years. Kemp’s theory that failure rates are less significant with more frequent launches may have also deterred potential clients.
As part of the company’s SPAC merger, Astra also acquired Apollo Fusion, an electric propulsion company, with the intention of integrating their technology into an Astra satellite network. However, this satellite constellation never materialized, and while Apollo Fusion propulsion systems were successfully sold, Astra struggled to convert their backlog into revenue.
This story will continue to evolve as more information becomes available.
