Wall Street’s latest easy money craze has attracted a growing number of space companies. But, just because they can go public, should they?

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Seven space companies have gotten caught up in the SPACovirus sweeping through Wall Street. The impact on the space industry is going to be interesting to watch.

A SPAC is a special purpose acquisition company. It’s a publicly traded investment firm that, with outside investors, acquires or merges with another company, and then takes the acquisition public under its own name.

Launch provider to become first publicly traded space company on NASDAQ through merger with Holicity

ALAMEDA, Calif., February 2, 2021 – Astra, the fastest privately-funded company in history to demonstrate orbital launch capability, and Holicity Inc. (NASDAQ: HOL) (“Holicity”), a special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”), today announced a definitive business combination agreement that will result in Astra becoming a publicly traded company. The transaction reflects an implied pro-forma enterprise value for Astra of approximately $2.1 billion. Upon closing, the transaction is expected to provide up to $500 million in cash proceeds, including up to $300 million of cash held in the trust account of Holicity and an upsized $200 million PIPE led by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock.

Astra Introduction Video from Chris Kemp on Vimeo. Ashlee Vance also has a story at Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2020-astra-rocket/ Some interesting tidbits: Astra’s next launch is scheduled for Feb. 21 from Pacific Spaceport Complex — Alaska on Kodiak Island; previous two launches suffered in-flight failures; payload will be up to 450 lb (204 kg) to low Earth orbit; launch cost is $2.5 million, but Astra is working toward $1 million; the company […]