The LV0006 rocket tilts during takeoff.
Astra / NASASpace flight
space company Astra will go private in a cut-rate deal with its founders after a dismal run as a publicly traded stock.
Astra co-founders Chris Kemp and Adam London (CEO and CTO, respectively) signed an agreement with the company's board of directors to acquire all outstanding common shares at 50 cents per share. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.
A special committee of the board, with Kemp and London abstaining, voted in favor of the privatization plan. After the founders last month reduced their offer from $1.50 a share to 50 cents, the board committee emphasized that it believed the deal was “the only alternative” to filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Astra shares, which stopped at 85 cents per share around the time of the announcement, closed at 58 cents per share on Thursday.
The market value of the company is about 13 million dollars. at current levels, a small part of the $2.6 billion stock valuation it took public through a SPAC three years ago.
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The San Francisco-area company, incorporated in 2016, once aimed to mass produce small rockets and launch on a daily basis.
Since its stock market debut, Astra's rockets have reached orbit twice, but the company also suffered three failed launches.
An Astra spacecraft engine during testing.
Astra
Its rocket launch business has been on pause since a mission failure in June 2022. Despite acquiring a spacecraft propulsion business, the company failed to generate significant quarterly revenue and made layoffs last year in an attempt For surviving.
The company posted more than $750 million in net losses since announcing it was going public.
