Space SPAC Index: Astra Hires ShareIntel to Investigate Stock Sales as Delisting Deadline Looms, Companies Dodge Bullets in SVB Collapse

Also: Satellogic to Launch Crop Signals Device

Welcome to this week’s S-SPACⁱ.

Launch provider Astra Space (NAS: ASTR) has hired Shareholder Intelligence Services (ShareIntel) to investigate possible illegal short selling of the company’s Class A common stock as an April 4 deadline looms to avoid being delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Astra said it made the move to “proactively review stockholder ownership of Astra’s Class A common stock in an effort to identify parties to suspicious, aberrant or unusual trading activity and deploy corrective action steps to help curtail any such activity.”

“Astra remains committed to protecting our investors and maximizing stockholder value. Partnering with ShareIntel will allow Astra to track share ownership, monitor any irregular trading behavior, and take appropriate measures, if necessary,” CEO and Chairman Chris Kemp said.

Astra Space received a delisting notice from Nasdaq in early October after its stock price closed below $1 for 30 consecutive days. It was given 180 days to get the price back up to $1 or facing being delisted from the stock exchange.

The stock closed at $0.45 on Tuesday.

Astra has the right to appeal any delisting move. It could be granted an additional 180 days to raises its stock price.

Astra Space’s goal is to achieve a high launch rate with very low cost boosters. The company abandoned its Rocket 3.3 last year after multiple failures. Astra is now working to develop the larger Rocket 4.0.

Space SPAC Index

Companies Dodge Bullets in Bank Collapse

Astra, Rocket Lab (NAS: RKLB) and other space companies will be able to access funds they had deposited in Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed last week amid a run on deposits.

The U.S. government stepped in to guarantee all deposits in the bank. Previously, only deposits above $250,000 were protected.

Astra reported that it had $38 million in SVB, which amounted to “approximately 7.9% of the Company’s total cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities as of December 31.”

Rocket Lab reported that 15% of its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were held in SVB as of March 10, 2023.

Astra and Rocket Lab reported their deposits in SVB because they are public companies. Reports indicate that other space companies also have deposits in the bank.

Satellogic & InterPlanet to Launch Crop Signals Device

Satellogic (NAS: SATL) and InnerPlant are launching a first-of-its-kind device designed to detect human-engineered crop signals from space.

“The specially designed imaging instrument is scheduled to be mounted to a Satellogic satellite and is intended to detect optical signals emitted by crops engineered by InnerPlant to fluoresce in response to stress such as an attack from pathogens or a lack of water or nutrients,” InnerPlanet said in a press release.

Drone-based aerial testing will start in the next few months. The satellite-mounted device will be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket later this year.