Updated on 8/12/2022 at 1:40 p.m. with information about Astrobotic Technology’s loan to Masten and initial bid for the bankrupt company’s assets.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

MOJAVE, Calif. — A new court document reveals that an unidentified company nearly purchased now-bankrupt Masten Space Systems earlier this year, but it ultimately backed away due to financial concerns about Masten Mission 1 (MM1), the company’s program to deliver a small rover and a suite of instruments to the south pole of the moon under a NASA contract.

“On April 29, Company A informed Masten that it did not plan to proceed with a deal because of the substantial liabilities recognized to date and additional future projected losses associated with MM1,” an Aug. 10 filing in Delaware Bankruptcy Court said.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Virgin Galactic has seen the departures of its director of safety and chief legal officer over the past month.

Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel Michelle Kley is leaving Virgin Galactic as of July 19 after two years and seven months with the company. She will become chief legal officer at Volta, a company that runs an electric vehicle charging network.

Her departure comes as Virgin Galactic battles lawsuits from unhappy shareholders who claim to have lost money since the company went public more than 2.5 years ago.

Kley joined Virgin Galactic as executive vice president, chief legal officer, general counsel and secretary in December 2019. She previously served as senior vice president, chief legal officer, general counsel and secretary at Maxar Technologies from July 2016 to March 2019.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

LONG BEACH, Calif. — The question of how to strengthen the U.S. space industry’s weakened supply chain, which has been battered over the past two years by the global COVID-19 pandemic, was the subject of a panel discussion at the Space Tech Expo last week. The answers boiled down to the Pentagon adopting an agile approach to developing and acquiring technology, and reversing a decades-old trend by industry of outsourcing manufacturing abroad.

• Billionaire aims to go higher and faster next time
• Virgin Galactic still can’t get SpaceShipTwo all the way up (to Karman line)
• FAA throws in the towel on deciding who is and who isn’t an astronaut

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Earlier this month, Richard Branson and two Virgin Galactic employees received commercial astronaut wings from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity flight test they took part in last July. The trio was the last group to receive the wings — FAA ended the program last year — and the honors came with a pretty big asterisk.

SatixFy is a vertically integrated fabless semiconductor chip company providing products based on in-house developed chips across the entire satellite communications value chain

SatixFy customers include a list of significant players in the satellite telecom industry, such as Telesat, OneWeb, Airbus and others.

This transaction along with a recently completed capital raise will result in up to $350 million in gross proceeds assuming no trust redemptions, including a $29 million PIPE with participation from key institutional investors including Sensegain Group and Antarctica Capital, and a Committed Equity Facility of up to $75 million from CF Principal Investments LLC, an affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald. In addition, the Company recently closed on an additional financial commitment of $55 million from Francisco Partners.

Transaction implies a pro forma implied equity value of the combined company at approximately $813 million.

NEW YORK & REHOVOT, Israel, March 08, 2022 (SatixFy Communications/Endurance Acquisition Corp PR) — SatixFy Communications Ltd. (“SatixFy”), a leader in next- generation satellite communication systems based on in-house developed chipsets, and Endurance Acquisition Corp. (“Endurance”) (NASDAQ: EDNC), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company formed by an affiliate of Antarctica Capital, an international private equity firm with $2 billion of assets under management, announced today a definitive merger agreement that will result in SatixFy becoming a publicly listed company.

BOCA RATON, Fla., February 15, 2022 (Terran Orbital PR) — Terran Orbital Corporation (“Terran Orbital”), a leading vertically integrated provider of end-to-end satellite solutions, announced  contracts and awards totaling over $170 million since September 30, 2021. This includes multiple agreements and awards from several government and commercial customers.

“Terran Orbital is fortunate to enjoy unique relationships with leaders in the defense, civil, and commercial sectors,” said Marc Bell, Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Terran Orbital. “Our team continues to focus on delivering the highest quality solutions at a compelling price. We are honored by the trust and partnership of our customers and look forward to delivering the capabilities they need.”

WASHINGTON (C5 Acquisition Corporation PR) — C5 Acquisition Corporation (the “Company”), a special purpose acquisition company, announced the closing of its initial public offering of 28,750,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit, including 3,750,000 units issued pursuant to the exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option in full, on January 11, 2022. The units were listed on the New York Stock Exchange and began trading under the ticker symbol “CXAC.U” on January 7, 2022.

Each unit consists of one share of Class A common stock of the Company and one-half of one redeemable public warrant. Each whole public warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock of the Company at a price of $11.50 per share. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, the shares of Class A common stock and public warrants are expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols “CXAC” and “CXAC WS,” respectively.

by Douglas MessierManaging Editor Virgin Orbit’s debut on the NASDAQ stock exchange wasn’t exactly stellar. The stock opened at $9.18 when trading began on Thursday, Dec. 30. It reached a low of $8.04 when trading ended the following day befrore rising to $8.30 in after-hours trading. Richard Branson’s launch company went public after merging with NextGen Acquisition Corp. II, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that was already traded on […]

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

In a clear sign of investor skepticism, Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit will receive only about $228 million of the $483 million in growth capital it expected after merging with the NextGen Acquisition II special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Virgin Orbit has delayed its next satellite launch, originally set for Wednesday, Dec. 22, to next month. The launch will come after shareholders of NextGen Acquisition Corp. II vote on Dec. 28 on whether to merge with Richard Branson’s launch services provider.

The merger with the special purpose acquisition company would allow Virgin Orbit to go public on Nasdaq under its own name. The deal will provide $483 million in capital to allow the company to grow.