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🚀 Astra Under Pressure

🚀 Astra Under Pressure

February 11, 2022

The Space Scoop

Week Ending 02.11.2022

Happy Friday and a warm welcome to our new readers! Nearly $100M of funding was announced this week, including the largest space tech seed round ever. Elon Musk provided a Starship update and Wall Street analysts are concerned for Virgin Galactic and Astra, while bullish on Rocket Lab. Lets dive in.

Market Max-Q 📈

In Collaboration With:

E-Space Raises $50M Seed

The startup led by Greg Wyler, founder of O3b Networks and OneWeb, raised the largest space technology seed round to date. The company plans to democratize space with sustainable satellites and reduce orbital debris by "pioneering a new network, of over one hundred thousand secure communication satellites, to solve problems on Earth." E-Space's product will eventually "actively and sacrificially" capture and deorbit small debris in space while performing as communications satellites. The round was led by Prime Movers Lab.

Bernstein Concerned For Virgin Galactic

On Wednesday, Bernstein cut their price target on $SPCE from $22 to $10 per share and issued a warning to shareholders: the lack of near-term catalysts amid the overall backdrop of investor hesitancy over high-growth story stocks. "A longer-term concern is whether the market still has enough appetite to support the investments required to make high risk, capital intensive industries, like space tourism, profitable," said analyst Douglas Harned. "Retaining experienced staff will be important in delivering on the timeline of launching commercial flights in Q4 2022," he added. Shares finished the day +4.9% higher.

Astra's Eventful Week

$ASTR had a busy week, one which unfortunately wasn't full of positives..• The company's first launch from Florida’s Cape Canaveral experienced a mid-flight issue preventing the rocket from reaching orbit on the NASA-funded mission. • Shares were halted twice due to volatility and closed down -26.1%.• CEO Chris Kemp & CFO Kelyn Brannon are being investigated by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of NY for allegedly violating securities law. • Two investor lawsuits were filed.• Bank of America ($BAC) cut its rating to 'Underweight' from 'Neutral' and lowered the price target from $7 to $4 per share, stating "we believe ASTR’s overall fast approach to market has exposed some glaring issues in development that management must address before a stable launch cadence can be achieved."

2022 Starship Update

On Thursday evening, Elon Musk hosted a Starship update live event for the first time in two years. He opened his presentation with a case for the value of space transportation, calling it necessary for “establishing security for life itself and having an exciting future." Next, he hit on the cost efficiency of SpaceX which is arguably "the best in history, I think, for any rocket development. From an environmental standpoint, it is also much better being a fully reusable" vehicle. Musk is also “highly confident it would be less than $10 million" per launch. He provided an update on the Raptor 2 engines, which have been “almost completely redesigned”, “significantly simplified” and more powerful “costing about half as much.” The coolest part of the event? The company's five minute rendering of what Starship hopes to accomplish. For a full summary of the event, watch it here.

Rocket Lab "Could Take Off" With Catalysts Ahead

On Friday, Morgan Stanley ($MS) reiterated a 'Buy' rating on Rocket Lab ($RKLB) with a few potential near-term catalysts:• New launch window opening on February 28 via Electron Earth imaging company Synspective.• Lock-up period expiration on February 25 could also remove an overhang if holders stay long.• First attempt at mid-air booster retrieval via helicopter early this year.

In Other News 🛰️

Wyvern Raises $4M Non-Equity Funding

(TechCrunch)

Following a recent $4.5M seed round, the company has raised another $4M via Canada’s Sustainable Development Technology program. The capital is essentially a contract with measurable outcomes and deliverables, that provides access to the funding reliant on meeting said goals.

Tokio Marine and ICEYE Announce Strategic Investment

(Company)

This comes as part of the recent $136M Series D round. The two look to develop new insurance products and services that "utilize satellite data to facilitate the digital transformation of insurance claims capabilities to address the growing impact of climate change."

SciTec Wins $5M Space Force Contract

(SpaceNews)

The nine-month contract, selected by Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC), is to develop a software application that processes and analyzes data from U.S. missile-warning SBIRS satellites.

Sateliot Raises $11.4M Series A

(SpaceNews)

The Spanish IoT startup forges agreements with mobile network operators rather than seeking its own service customers. Following the financing, Indra and Cellnex now own ~10.5% and 3.5% of the company. Seraphim Capital ($SSIT) and GateHouse also participated in the round.

Destinus Raises $29M Funding

(SpaceNews)

The Swiss startup plans to bring hydrogen-powered, horizontal take-off and launch supersonic flight. Investors include Conny & Co, Quiet Capital, Liquid2 Ventures, One Way Ventures, Cathexis Ventures and Ace & Company.

Quick Links 🔗

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Planet ($PL) Partners With Inzpire To Provide Advanced Training Support

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Stock Market Losses for Space Companies Not Affecting Private Investment

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Virgin Galactic ($SPCE) Appoints Blair Rich as President and Chief Business Officer

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Globalstar ($GSAT) Is Selling Their Covington Headquarters For $20M

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Kleos ($KSS) Partners With Satellogic ($SATL) To Pursue Government and Commercial Tenders

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Astrocast ($ASTRO) Partners With UnaBiz on End-to-End Satellite IoT Solution

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Singapore Government To Invest $150M in Space Tech Resrach & Development

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Satellogic ($SATL) Joins Ursa Space’s Virtual Constellation and Partner Network

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Viasat ($VSAT) Partners With Arctic Space Technologies To Establish and Host High-Latitude Real-Time Earth Facility

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SAIC ($SAIC) Awarded $410M in Space and Intelligence Community Contracts

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Sidus Space ($SIDU) Announces $1.5M+ New Purchase Orders Received in January

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Spire ($SPIR) and Exolaunch Sign Multi-Launch Agreement

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RFA and Southern Launch Sign Agreement for Launch Facilities

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Spire ($SPIR) Awarded $8 Million NOAA Contract To Deliver Satellite Weather Data

Calendar 📅

• $IRDM: February 17 - Before Market Open• $BKSY: February 22 - Before Market Open• $MAXR: February 22 - After Market Close• $SPCE: February 22 - After Market Close• $RKLB: February 28 - After Market Close

*Company confirmed dates only.

🚀 Astra Under Pressure