The Space Investor
Posts
🚀 Astra Reaches Orbit

🚀 Astra Reaches Orbit

November 26, 2021

View this email in your browser

The Space Scoop

Week Ending 11.26.2021

Happy Friday! For our U.S. readers, we hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

We anticipated a quiet week, but that wasn't the case. Let's dive in.

Market Max-Q 📈

Astra Joins The Club

$ASTR's LV0007 rocket successfully reached orbit for the United States Space Force on late Friday evening of November 19th from Kodiak Spaceport. The payload achieved an orbital velocity of 7.61 kilometers per second in 8 minutes and 47 seconds. Only a select group has achieve this feat: SpaceX, Rocket Lab ($RKLB) and Virgin Orbit ($NGCA). “Reaching orbit is a historic milestone for Astra," said Chris Kemp, Founder, Chairman and CEO. “We can now focus on delivering for our customers and scaling up rocket production and launch cadence.” Astra was founded in 2016 and in five years has successfully “learned its way” to orbit, launch by launch, increasing capabilities and operational efficiencies with each iteration. "We owe this success to our incredible team and the culture we’ve built at Astra" said Adam London, Co-Founder and CTO. The stock finished Monday up +17.2% after an opening pop of more than +40%. Michael Sheetz joined CNBC's Closing Bell to discuss.

Voyager To Acquire Majority Stake in Space Micro

On Monday, Voyager Space announced its sixth acquisition: Space Micro. The company is an engineering-driven business focused on "advancing high-performance satellite communications, digital, and electro-optical systems" with over 2.7M hours of space flight heritage. Space Micro has developed the world's highest data rate Laser Communications Terminal in orbit. Their customers include NASA, Space Force, Air Force, Space and Missile Center, Special Operations Command, Space IL, the German Space Agency and more. David Strobel, Co-Founder and Chairman, stated "The satellite constellation market stands at the tipping point of explosive expansion and now, with the Voyager team and operational functions by our side, we will be prepared to scale our technologies to meet these market needs." The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Rocket Lab Confirms Helicopter Capture For Next Mission

$RKLB will attempt to catch a returning rocket booster mid-air with a helicopter during the company’s next recovery mission scheduled for the first half of 2022. The confirmation follows the successful demonstration of helicopter shadow operations for the first time during the company’s 22nd Electron launch and third recovery mission last week. Rocket Lab conducted a controlled splashdown and retrieval of Electron’s first stage following successful deployment of BlackSky ($BKSY) satellites on November 18th. Recovery engineers met the returned stage in the ocean within 80 minutes of lift-off, halving the time of previous recovery attempts. Rocket Lab’s primary objective is "to return Electron’s booster to the mainland while still attached to the helicopter." CEO Peter Beck stated “We’re ready to take the final step and begin collecting boosters mid-air with a helicopter to race us closer to launch, catch, repeat."

Astroscale Raises $109M Series F

The round was led by THE FUND Limited Partnership in Japan, with participation from Seraphim Space ($SSIT) and DNCA. This is the largest funding round in the company’s history and brings the total amount raised to $300M. The capital will accelerate on-orbit services technology development, facility expansion and global hiring. Founder & CEO Nobu Okada stated “This latest round of funding will dramatically accelerate our ability to make on-orbit servicing routine by 2030." Since its last raise in October 2020, Astroscale has increased its global team by +60%, now employing ~250 team members.

AAC Clyde Space Reports Q3'2021 Earnings

Heading into this week the majority of space earnings calls are behind us. We await an update from Redwire ($RDW), with $ACCMF slated for Thanksgiving Day. Highlights include:• Net Sales +23% to SEK 33.7M• Total Revenue of SEK 41.3M• Order Backlog amounted to SEK 406M• Gross Margin improved to 51%• EBITDA of SEK -10.0MCEO Luis Gomes commented "We have continued to drive progress on our growth strategy and key contracts in the face of late deliveries from major suppliers. As anticipated, these delays have had an inevitable knock-on impact on project completion and our revenue recognition." He continued "This quarter we have made significant progress on key contracts that underpin our longer-term group strategy and are now planning the next phase of growth, with a focus on building and launching our own constellation." Shares finished Friday -6.4%.

In Other News 🛰️

BigBear.ai and Terran Orbital Begin Commercial Partnership

(Company)

$GIG announced a software agreement with Terran Orbital ($TWNT) to enhance manufacturing, operations, and multi-source Earth imaging offering for U.S. government, international defense and commercial clients.

C5 Acquisition Corporation Files For IPO

(SEC)

Last week, SPAC $CXAC filed an S-1 with the SEC to raise up to $250M targeting a space, cybersecurity, or energy transition company. The CEO of the blank check company will be Rob Myerson, former President of Blue Origin.

York Space Systems Providing Spacecraft Bus For HySpecIQ

(ParabolicArc)

The announcement marks the third partnership of the company's plan to manufacture and launch it’s hyperspectral imaging satellites. HySpecIQ will take advantage of York’s turnkey solution to build the constellation rapidly and affordably.

Cognitive Space Raises $4M Seed Round

(SpaceNews)

The space startup uses artificial intelligence-based software to manage imaging satellite constellations. The round was led by Grit Ventures, with participation from Argon Ventures, Techstars, SpaceFund and other firms.

Blue Canyon Technologies Wins $14.6M Contract

(SpaceNews)

The startup was selected by the Air Force Research Laboratory to develop a satellite under their Space Situational Awareness Micro-Satellite Bus program. The company has to deliver a product that can operate and maneuver for up to three years in orbits beyond GEO by February 2023.

Quick Links 🔗

• BlackSky ($BKSY) on Track To Significantly Expand Its Constellation This Year• AAC Clyde Space ($ACCMF) Wins Order for U.S. DoD Satellite Mission Led by Aegis Aerospace• The Exploration Company Raises €5.3M Seed Round From Promus Ventures• Investing in Space and Beyond Podcast With Space.VC• Two Vice Presidents Depart From SpaceX Rocket Business Leadership Roles• Blockchain for Space Webinar: Cybersecurity, Supply Chain Management and Venture Financing• Nanoracks To Deploy First-Ever 0.3U CubeSat From the ISS• Canaccord Genuity Starts Mynaric ($MYNA) at ‘Buy’ Rating With $40 Price Target• Saber Astronautics Partners With Axiom Space To Give Australia ISS Presence• METIS Collaborates With Spire ($SPIR) To Further Enhance Weather Forecasting Functionality• Planet ($DMYQ): Announces New Contracts With State and Local Governments, and Expands Sales Leadership Team• NASA’s DART Mission Propelled by Aerojet Rocketdyne ($AJRD)• Terran Orbital ($TWNT) CEO Interviewed by TD Ameritrade Network• Rocket Lab ($RKLB): To Announce Neutron Development Update on December 2• Sierra Space Co-Founders Join CNBC To Discuss $1.4B Series A• China’s Leo Group Hits Wall With Planned $50M SpaceX InvestmentOpinion• Should You Invest in the Space Race – And How?• We Reiterate Our Long-Term Buy on Rocket Lab ($RKLB)• Space Junk Removal Could Become a Hot New Startup Category• Satellite Industry Grows As Investors Bet Billions on Space-Derived Data• Space-Based Solar Power Could Be Deployed in 10 Years• Niccolo De Masi Compares Planet Labs ($DMYQ) to Google ($GOOGL) in 2001• Virgin Galactic ($SPCE): An Excellent Buy for Speculative Investors• Is It Time to Short Space?

🚀 Astra Reaches Orbit