Space SPAC Index: Astra & Terran Orbital Plan Fund Raises

Welcome to S-SPACⁱ. In this week’s edition, Astra Space and Terran Orbital plan fund raises, Terran Orbital celebrates a successful mission, Satellogic’s reported higher revenue, the sale of bankrupt Virgin Orbit is approved, BlackSky spots a Chinese airship, Spire Global offers a new service to customers, Virgin Galactic shakes up its board, and Intuitive Machines will celebrate its moon mission with custom cigars.

Astra Space Files to Raise $100 million

Launch and propulsion supplier Astra Space plans to raise an additional $100 million, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The funds would be raised through the sale of preferred and common stock, debt securities, debt warrants, equity warrants, rights, and units.

“We currently intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of securities under this prospectus for general corporate purposes,” the company said in its filing. “Our general corporate purposes include, but are not limited to, capital expenditures, funding possible acquisitions, working capital and satisfaction of other obligations. We have not determined the amount of net proceeds to be used specifically for the foregoing purposes. As a result, our management will have broad discretion over the allocation of the net proceeds.”

You can find more details here.

Terran Orbital Raise

Terran Orbital (NYS: LLAP) plans to sell additional stock to the public in order to expand its satellite manufacturing business, according to a document filed with the SEC. The sales include:

• Up to 106,560,152 shares of common stock.
• Up to 78,000 warrants to purchase shares of common stock at $11.50 per share.
• Up to 11,055,606 warrants to purchase shares of common stock at $10.00 per share.
• Up to 19,299,960 shares of common stock underlying warrants to purchase at $11.50 per share.
• Up to 11,055,606 shares of common stock underlying warrants to purchase at $10.00 per share.

You can find more details here.

Terran Orbital Satellites Operate in GEO Belt

Terran Orbital (NYS: LLAP) announced the success of the company’s first two spacecraft to operate in or around the geosynchronous orbit (GEO) belt. The two spacecraft built Lockheed Martin completed on-orbit demonstration of the Lockheed Martin In-space Upgrade Satellite System (LM LINUSS).

Each 12U LM LINUSS CubeSats is equipped with a low-toxicity thruster system, a Lockheed Martin-built electro-optical payload deck, and fully redundant critical bus subsystems to ensure the safety of flight during rendezvous and proximity operations.

“With LM LINUSS operating near GEO, CAPSTONE orbiting the moon, and a fleet of Terran Orbital-developed low-earth-orbit spacecraft, we have proven that Terran Orbital busses can operate essentially anywhere,” Terran Orbital CEO and Chairman Marc Bell said in a press release. “Working with Lockheed Martin is always a pleasure, and we are beyond grateful for the numerous opportunities they have given us. Together, we are charting the path for building constellations at scale, and are thrilled Lockheed Martin selected a Terran Orbital bus to propel this journey.”

Space SPAC Index
May 3, 2023

Satellogic’s Revenue Up, Net Loss Down

Satellogic reported a 42 percent year-over-year increase in revenue for 2022 from $4.25 million to $6 million while the company’s net loss narrowed from $96.3 million to $36.6 million.

Adjusted EBITDA loss increased from $31.8 million in 2021 to $56.0 million in 2022. The company said the increase was “due to increased costs associated with being a public company and higher average headcount in anticipation of business growth.”

“2022 was a transformational year for Satellogic, beginning with successfully going public and continuing through a series of milestone achievements that has led us to our position today, with 34 satellites in orbit,” Satellogic CEO Emiliano Kargieman said in a press release. “With the largest commercial fleet of sub-meter resolution satellites in the world, we are well positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for Earth Observation data and satellites.”

Virgin Orbit Sale Approved

Bankrupt Virgin Orbit (OTCMKTS: VORBQ) has received permission from the court to sell itself later this month. Bids from interested parties are due on May 15. The company also published financial results for 2022 that show how precarious the company’s financial position was at the end of last year.

Virgin Orbit declared bankruptcy on April 4 after laying off 675 of its 775 employees. The company struggled to increase its launch cadence and to raise funding to continue operations.

BlackSky Satellite Images Chinese Airship

BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) released the first and only known public satellite image, according to a third-party intelligence analyst, of an alleged airship at the Korla East Test Site in China.

A BlackSky satellite captured the image on Friday, November 4, 2022, at 9 a.m. local time. It is one of two images that shows a likely airship on the ground.

“BlackSky has permanently changed how humanity will use space to deliver actionable intelligence,” BlackSky CEO Brian E. O’Toole said in a company announcement. “Capturing this early morning image was only made possible after building the world’s first commercial high-frequency monitoring satellite constellation and AI-driven tasking and analytics platform.”

Spire Global Launches Space-Powered Maritime Weather Insights Platform

Spire Global, Inc. (NYS: SPIR) has launched its new Deep Navigation Analytics Platform, a centralized, space-powered hub that delivers essential insights to maritime stakeholders through three layers: maritime weather data, actionable intelligence, and decision support solutions and visualizations.

The platform utilizes radio occultation (RO) data acquired by the company’s fully deployed satellite constellation and its proprietary weather forecasting model, which assimilates RO data to generate 15-day global weather forecasts, ensuring that users have access to the most up-to-date and comprehensive information available.

“With unparalleled global weather coverage from space, particularly in under-observed areas like the open oceans and other remote regions, the launch of Spire’s Deep Navigation Analytics™ Platform, provides the maritime world with one suite to facilitate a broad range of maritime use cases,” said Mike Eilts, Spire’s general manager of weather and Earth intelligence.

Virgin Galactic Shakes Up Board

Virgin Galactic (NYS: SPCE) has shaken up its board of directors as the company prepares to begin commercial suborbital human spaceflight by appointing Diana Strandberg and Raymond Mabus, Jr. as new members and Evan Lovell as chairman.

Strandberg recently retired from the global investment management firm of Dodge & Cox, where she served as senior vice president and director of international equity and as an executive board member.

Mabus served as U.S. Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2017, as governor of Mississippi from 1988 to 1992, and U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994 to 1996. He will serve as the board’s lead independent director.

Strandberg and Mabus will replace departing directors Adam Bain and George Mattson, who are not standing for reelection.

A seasoned private equity investor, Lovell has served on Virgin Galactic’s board since October 2019; he became interim chairman in February 2022.

“We are thrilled to have Evan appointed as our Chair of the Board and to welcome Ray and Diana as new Board members,” CEO Michael Colglazier said. “Evan has been an important member of our board for many years, and his experience with the Virgin Group will continue to be a strong asset going forward. Ray and Diana’s dynamic and complementary expertise in capital markets, international business and government will greatly benefit Virgin Galactic as we launch and grow our global commercial spaceline.”

Cigar to Celebrate Moon Mission

Lunar delivery company Intuitive Machines (NAS: LUNR) and its founder, Steve Altemus, have teamed with the Virginia-based company Fratello Cigars unveil a new cigar, The Lunar, that will be used to celebrate the launch of the company’s IM-1 mission to the moon in June.

“I am incredibly honored to be part of this historic moment. When Steve approached me a few years ago to create a cigar to commemorate this momentous launch, I knew we were working on something truly special,” said Fratello Cigars founder Omar de Frias. “The fact that the Fratello Brand will be reaching the moon is a moment of triumph for Fratello fans around the world. During my 12 years at NASA, successful missions were always celebrated with a premium cigar. This year, that celebratory cigar will be The Lunar.”

De Frias worked for NASA from 2004 to 2016 before leaving to found Fratello Cigars. He last job at the space agency was as budget execution manager of the space agency’s Science Mission Directorate.

Altemus left his position as deputy director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in July 2013 to found Intuitive Machines. The space agency has awarded the company three missions to deliver payloads to the surface of the moon under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.

Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander is set to deliver NASA and private payloads to the moon. The vehicle is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in June.

Fratello Cigars will also introduce a limited edition 18-count humidor to celebrate the mission.