Astra Space

[TrevorMonty]

Momentus water based SEP is probably better option for RL to pickup if the company folds.

[cpushack]

Can we start speculating on who is going to purchase Astra's assets?

For a while I wondered if Rocket Lab would pick up the remnants of Apollo Fusion, since electric thrusters are one area they have no current involvement with, but given the recent news about how much Astra let that division fall apart after acquiring them, I'm not sure if it's worth it to buy them out vs. just hiring those who left to create a new division in-house.

May be worth it just for any IP they have

[jstrotha0975]

I'm not an expert, but could Stoke use some of the IP for their first stage?

[JEF_300]

I'm not an expert, but could Stoke use some of the IP for their first stage?

Probably not. Stoke's first stage is much larger than anything Astra is building, and Astra isn't even making engines in-house anymore. If neither tanks nor engines are useful... what, maybe avionics? I guess the Astra avionics have given a good showing in the past. But I don't think that's likely.

[niwax]

I'm not an expert, but could Stoke use some of the IP for their first stage?

Probably not. Stoke's first stage is much larger than anything Astra is building, and Astra isn't even making engines in-house anymore. If neither tanks nor engines are useful... what, maybe avionics? I guess the Astra avionics have given a good showing in the past. But I don't think that's likely.

The most valuable thing usually is machinery and real estate. Rocket Lab just raved about getting their new engine HQ at 18 cents on the dollar. Stoke might need similar space and tooling.

[c4fusion]

I'm not an expert, but could Stoke use some of the IP for their first stage?

Probably not. Stoke's first stage is much larger than anything Astra is building, and Astra isn't even making engines in-house anymore. If neither tanks nor engines are useful... what, maybe avionics? I guess the Astra avionics have given a good showing in the past. But I don't think that's likely.

The most valuable thing usually is machinery and real estate. Rocket Lab just raved about getting their new engine HQ at 18 cents on the dollar. Stoke might need similar space and tooling.

I doubt Stoke will want the land since their test site and factory is all in Washington State, which is about 12 hour drive away from Alameda.  I mean SpaceX does something like that but there is no need to complicate your logistics when there is already plenty of cheap land and buildings in Washington.

[Zed_Noir]

I'm not an expert, but could Stoke use some of the IP for their first stage?

Probably not. Stoke's first stage is much larger than anything Astra is building, and Astra isn't even making engines in-house anymore. If neither tanks nor engines are useful... what, maybe avionics? I guess the Astra avionics have given a good showing in the past. But I don't think that's likely.

The most valuable thing usually is machinery and real estate. Rocket Lab just raved about getting their new engine HQ at 18 cents on the dollar. Stoke might need similar space and tooling.

I doubt Stoke will want the land since their test site and factory is all in Washington State, which is about 12 hour drive away from Alameda.  I mean SpaceX does something like that but there is no need to complicate your logistics when there is already plenty of cheap land and buildings in Washington.

Maybe Rocket Lab might want the facilities for assembling stuff as a branch plant. Also increasing their company footprint to Northern California, corralling more Congressional Critters.

[trimeta]

I think the distance would be a significant negative factor for Rocket Lab or really any prospective buyers of Astra's real estate holdings: the major aerospace hubs are SoCal, Texas, Florida, and Washington, not NorCal.

The one advantage of Astra's main headquarters is they can run engine tests indoors, but I have no idea what the limits are on that test stand and whether anything bigger than Astra's own Delphin engines could be tested there.

[eeergo]

Meanwhile the stock has declined well under 10¢ pre-reverse-split -in other words, it has lost 99% of its opening value of $147 with the current valuation- and seems to be headed to lose the nominal $1 value within the month.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/breadfrom/status/1711916764697629132

Astra is considering selling a 51% stake in its propulsion business, while also weighing the potential sale of other parts of its business. @lorengrush and @kielporter have the scoop

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-10/astra-space-said-to-explore-options-including-asset-sales

This news is not a surprise. When Astra established a separate subsidiary for the propulsion business, a person familiar with the matter told me part of that decision related to unlocking diff financing options...

https://twitter.com/breadfrom/status/1711916767893717446

Astra purchased Apollo in summer 2021. Multiple anonymous sources told me that the acquisition was beset by disfunction almost from the very beginning. My investigation ICYMI

"Astra’s Apollo Fusion acquisition followed by delays and desertion"

https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/28/astras-apollo-fusion-acquisition-followed-by-delays-and-desertion/

[TrevorMonty]

Apollo owners and shareholders have learnt hard way how not to do a M&A. Make sure company taking you over is going lot after your staff and product. If transaction involves shares and not hard cash then better make sure thoses share won't be worthless down track.

By comparsion RL has invested heavily into its M&A companies and still has owners from most of those companies still working for them. Not sure about rest of staff. These M&As make up bulk of RL's space systems which is company's main revenue earner and reason they are doing OK financially.

[eeergo]

Alright then... Astra has fallen 20% in barely a few hours and is now hovering just above $1 of nominal value, or about 6 cents pre-reverse-split. Seems the leeway of creative accounting has finally ran out (unless they rinse and repeat of course!), just a month after it was executed.

Bankrupcy is probably imminent.

[Kryten]

 They have lost 99.3% of the original Holicity pre-merger share price and 99.7% of their peak price after the merger announcement. I realise we try to keep stock talk to a minimum (and god knows I'm not interesting in actually trading any of these companies) but this doesn't bode well for their general financial health.

[TrevorMonty]

Alright then... Astra has fallen 20% in barely a few hours and is now hovering just above $1 of nominal value, or about 6 cents pre-reverse-split. Seems the leeway of creative accounting has finally ran out (unless they rinse and repeat of course!), just a month after it was executed.

Bankrupcy is probably imminent.

Unless they can find a billionaire who wants to become a millionaire.

[Robotbeat]

Probably got to wait until they go through bankruptcy first to discharge their obligations. Then you could buy it to make missiles.

[M.E.T.]

Now down to $0.74/share. So the 15-1 reverse stock split came to naught, as it’s back down below $1.00/share. So effectively 15 times lower than when it traded at this level before the split.

[trimeta]

Now down to $0.74/share. So the 15-1 reverse stock split came to naught, as it’s back down below $1.00/share. So effectively 15 times lower than when it traded at this level before the split.

Wasn't it closer to $0.25 when they initiated the reverse split? So it's only dropped to 1/5th its value since then, not the full 1/15th. Although it might have dropped a bit in the days leading up to the reverse split, I'm just counting the price immediately beforehand.

And perhaps more importantly (from Astra's perspective), it took them over ten days to go under $1 again, so they barely passed the exchange's rules to stay listed. Now they get to remain on the stock market until they go bankrupt (which may be in single-digit weeks from now...).

[M.E.T.]

Now down to $0.74/share. So the 15-1 reverse stock split came to naught, as it’s back down below $1.00/share. So effectively 15 times lower than when it traded at this level before the split.

Wasn't it closer to $0.25 when they initiated the reverse split? So it's only dropped to 1/5th its value since then, not the full 1/15th. Although it might have dropped a bit in the days leading up to the reverse split, I'm just counting the price immediately beforehand.

And perhaps more importantly (from Astra's perspective), it took them over ten days to go under $1 again, so they barely passed the exchange's rules to stay listed. Now they get to remain on the stock market until they go bankrupt (which may be in single-digit weeks from now...).

Yeah I haven’t checked the exact lowest value they reached before the artificial stock boost. I just meant they are now worth 15 times less than the last time they traded at $0.74, prior to the reverse split.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/astra/status/1714312833788510320

The Astra Spacecraft Engine™ is a flight-proven electric propulsion system that can handle a wide range of missions from the smallest Earth observation satellites to large communications satellites. Meet our team and learn more at

https://astra.com/space-products/astra-spacecraft-engine/

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/astra/status/1715097899825303927

Astra to report Q3 2023 earnings on November 13, 2023 at 1.30pm PT / 4.30pm ET: https://investor.astra.com/news-releases/news-release-details/astra-report-third-quarter-2023-financial-results-november-13th/

Live webcast will be available at: https://investor.astra.com/investor-relations/ $ASTR