🚀 Astra Engines on the Move

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The Space Scoop
Week Ended 10.14.2022

Happy Friday! It was a wild and choppy week on Wall Street, with most space stocks finishing in the red. Astra announced two engine contracts, Spire will utilize Virgin Orbit for more launches, Sierra Space launched a venture capital arm, and the Q3 space earnings calendar continues to fill out. Lets dive in.

📈 Market Max-Q

S&P 500: 3,583.51 -1.5%
NASDAQ: 10,321.39 -3.1%

UFO: 17.94 -3.2%
ROKT: 33.69 -3.7%
ARKX: 11.98 -4.1%
SSIT: 53.0 -12.3%

VORB: 3.08 +7.7%
RDW: 2.40 -10.1%
MNTS: 1.14 -14.9%
PL: 4.90 -17.5%

1W return as of 4:00pm EDT.

🚀 Top Stories

1) Astra ($ASTR) announced spacecraft engine contracts with Maxar ($MAXR) and Astroscale.

Astra will provide its engines to Maxar for their low-Earth orbit spacecrafts and to Astroscale for their space sustainability spacecraft platform, ELSA-M.
Engine delivery to Maxar is expected to begin in 2023 while there was no timeframe mentioned for Astroscale.
This is exactly what Astra's stock needed after its recent delisting notice from the NASDAQ, but in a down trending market no love was found. Shares closed the week -11.4% lower.

2) Virgin Orbit ($VORB) and Spire ($SPIR) signed a multi-launch agreement.

Spire has committed "to purchase multiple launches over several years" from Virgin, starting in 2023.
The launches will support Spire’s Space Services business as well as upgrade and enhancement the company’s fully deployed satellite constellation.
Spire will utilize LauncherOne’s variety of launch orbits, from mid-inclination to polar, out of their spaceport in Mojave, CA.

3) Credit Suisse ($CS) initiated equity research coverage on two Space SPACs Wednesday.

BlackSky ($BKSY): Rated 'outperform' and given a $3.00/share target, implying +100% upside from Tuesday's closing price.
Rocket Lab ($RKLB): Rated 'underperform' and also given a $3.00/share target, implying -30% of downside from Tuesday's closing price.

🛰️ In Other News

Earthmover Raised $1.7M Pre-Seed Round (TechCrunch)
The 'array data analytics in the cloud' startup's mission is to empower customers to use scientific data to address the planet’s most urgent challenges. The round was led by Costanoa Ventures.

Solestial Space Raised $10M Seed Round (BusinessWire)
The Arizona State University spin-out, space solar power startup will use the capital to ramp up production and customer engagement capabilities. Airbus Ventures lead the round and was joined by AEI HorizonX, GPVC, Stellar Ventures, Industrious Ventures and others.

Sierra Space Launched Sierra Space Ventures (Company)
The new venture capital arm will be headed by Matthew Mejía and will allow Sierra "to partner with pioneering, growing companies for the purpose of innovating their disruptive products on the Sierra Space platform in space.”

Orbit Fab Won $13M USSF Contract (Bloomberg)
The 'Gas Stations in Space' startup will provide fuel for United States Space Force satellites in
geostationary (GEO) orbit. The four-year contract between the two will begin in 2025.

📊 Chart of the Week

SpaceX 2022 Revenue Estimation, per Mo Islam of Payload (Source)

🔗 Links

• Virgin Orbit ($VORB) ‘Start Me Up’ Mission Flight Hardware Takes Off for Spaceport Cornwall Debut

• ViaSat-3 ($VSAT) Satellite Completes Mechanical Environmental Testing

• Rogue Space Systems Receives National Science Foundation Grant

• Electron Arrives at Launch Complex 2 for Rocket Lab’s ($RKLB) Inaugural Virginia Mission

• New Iridium ($IRDM) Certus Service Providers To Support U.S. Government Customers

• Sidus Space ($SIDU) Awarded Contract To Deploy Edge Computing Technology for Exo-Space

• NASA Extends Contract With Planet ($PL) Granting Access to Planet Data to Over 300K Scientists

• Viasat ($VSAT) and Inmarsat ($ISAT) To Work With CMA To Demonstrate Customer Benefits of Proposed Transaction

• Rocket Lab ($RKLB) Selected To Build Solar Panels for NASA’s CADRE Mobile Robot Program

• Blue Skies Space Announces New Satellite To Monitor Habitability of Distant Planets

🗣️ Opinion

• ARK Invest Continues To Be a Buyer of Rocket Lab ($RKLB)

• Space Companies Face Difficult Investment Environment

• Astra’s ($ASTR) Strategy To Address NASDAQ Warning

• You Can’t Go to Space on a Ford Pinto (and Other Harsh Truths I Learned Courting Venture Capital)

📅 Earnings Calendar

• $PL: Oct 12 - Investor Day
• $LMT: Oct 18 - Before Market Open
• $IRDM: Oct 20 - Before Market Open
• $BA: Oct 26 - Before Market Open
• $GD: Oct 26 - Before Market Open
• $NOC: Oct 27 - Before Market Open
• $SPCE: Nov 3 - After Market Close
• $RKLB: Nov 9 - After Market Close
• $SPIR: Nov 9 - After Market Close

*Company confirmed dates only.

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Disclaimer: The Space Investor ("TSI") does not provide financial advice. All content is for informational purposes only and is not a solicitation to buy or sell any assets. TSI is not a registered investment, legal, or tax advisor or a broker/dealer.