🚀 Starlink: Cash Flow Breakeven

🚀 Starlink: Cash Flow Breakeven

November 03, 2023

The Space Scoop

Week Ended 11.03.2023

Happy Friday! It was a good week for markets and newsflow, especially for SpaceX which is now cash flow breakeven. On the other side of the coin, Astra defaulted on its debt raise agreement and Viasat announced a ~10% layoff. Lets dive in.Housekeeping: There will be no newsletter next week. Apologies in advance! We will see you back on the 17th.

Market Max-Q

Top Stories

1) Elon Musk announced that Starlink is "cash flow breakeven."

  • On Thursday late morning, Elon tweeted: "Excited to announce that SpaceX Starlink has achieved breakeven cash flow! Excellent work by a great team."

  • While this is great news for SpaceX hopefuls, he did not imply what time period this was in relation to. This news follows a prior cash flow positive quarter in 2022 and a Q1 2023 profit.

  • So when IPO? There have been multiple sound bites over the last few years regarding a Starlink IPO. Musk last mentioned a spin-off once the business was “in a smooth sailing situation.” Time will tell.

  • Sidenote: Cathie Wood's ARK Venture Fund also announced it invested in SpaceX this week.

 2) Astra ($ASTR) cash and cash equivalents fell below $10.5M as the Company defaulted on its August debt raise agreement. 

  •  In a 8-K on late Friday afternoon, Astra noted it failed twice in the last month to meet the minimum cash reserve requirements associated with a $12.5M note issuance to High Trail Capital.

  • The debt raise required Astra have “at least $15M of cash and cash equivalents” on hand. That liquidity requirement was adjusted lower to “at least $10.5M of unrestricted, unencumbered cash and cash equivalents.”

  • The Company noted it is “in continued discussions with a number of other investors” but warned it “can provide no assurance that it will be able to consummate any additional transaction in a timely manner, or at all.”

  • ASTR shares fell -18.7% in after hours trading.

 3) Globalstar ($GSAT) reported third quarter earnings. Highlights include:

  • Cash & Equivalents: $64M

  • Total Revenue: $58M, +53% YoY

  • Net Loss: $(6)M vs. $(204)M

  • Adj. EBITDA: $32M, +125% YoY

  • Total Avg Subscribers: 769.7k

  • Shares: -1.4%

In Other News

Arkadia Space Raises $3M Seed

The Spain-based green propellant propulsion systems provider announced the oversubscribed round will allow for expansion of facilities and workforce along with continued development of its hypergolic bipropellant spacecraft thruster. The round was led by Draper B1, with participation from Expansion Ventures and several angel investors including the founder of Loft Orbital.

Kuva Space Raises €16.6M in Funding 

The Finland-based EO startup will use the capital to accelerate development of its hyperspectral camera and space technology and double its team. The round was led by Voima Ventures and Nordic Foodtech VC. Earth VC, private investors via Springvest also participated with non-equity funding from Business Finland.

Zephyr Raises $3.5M Seed

Emerging from stealth, the next generation location-based solution startup plans to dramatically improve GPS via cell phones with zero hardware modifications. Zephyr is eyeing longer-term markets that are still nascent and evolving including autonomy, robotics and augmented reality. The round was led by Space Capital and First Spark Ventures.

Chart of the Week

October Space Stock Performance: Unless you owned shares of Momentus ($MNTS) which rallied +77.5%, it wasn't a good month for space stocks. Astra ($ASTR) was the big loser at -56.8%.

Links

• Redwire ($RDW) Announces Mission With Eli Lilly ($LLY) for Pharmaceutical Drug Development Lab• Sidus ($SIDU) Expands Management Leadership Structure Ahead of Its LizzieSat Constellation Launch• SatixFy ($SATX) Completes $60M Sale of Digital Payload Division to MDA ($MDA)• Delta ($DAL) Selects Hughes ($SATS) In-Flight Connectivity for Regional Aircraft• Mynaric ($MYNA) Receives $25M Order From Northrop Grumman ($NOC)• Rocket Lab ($RKLB) Welcomes Lt. Gen. Nina Armagno to Board of Directors• Viasat ($VSAT) Announces 10% Workforce Reduction• Sidus ($SIDU) Awarded 5 Year $10M Ceiling IDIQ Commercial Contract• AFRL Selects Intuitive Machines ($LUNR) To Provide Solutions for Nuclear-Powered Satellites• Virgin Galactic ($SPCE) Completes Sixth Successful Spaceflight in Six Months• Momentus ($MNTS) Completes Vibration Testing of Vigoride-7 Orbital Service Vehicle• Planet ($PL) Releases First Ground Testing Results for NASA CSP Program

Opinion

• SpaceX: The Independent Investment Guide• Inside Rocket Lab’s ($RKLB) Biggest Mission Yet: ‘It’s Do or Die’• Investment in Space Tourism Is About More Than a Nice View• Shaking Up the Commercial Space Station Industry• AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS): A Hold in the Sky Until Revenue Takes Flight

Earnings Calendar

• $TSAT: Nov 6 - Before Market Open• $SATS: Nov 6 - Before Market Open• $MDA: Nov 8 - Before Market Open• $BKSY: Nov 8 - Before Market Open• $SPIR: Nov 8 - After Market Close• $RKLB: Nov 8 - After Market Close• $SPCE: Nov 8 - After Market Close• $VSAT: Nov 8 - After Market Close• $ASTR: Nov 13 - After Market Close• $LLAP: Nov 14 - Before Market Open• $ASTS: Nov 14 - After Market Close• $MNTS: Nov 14 - After Market Close

*Company confirmed dates only.