Astra rocket launches satellites from Alaska, giving a lift to Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc geekwire.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from geekwire.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Astra’s Rocket 3.2 sits on its Alaska launch pad before its liftoff in December 2020. (Astra Photo / John Kraus)
A California-based space venture called Astra says it’s completed its financial transaction with Holicity, a blank-check company that’s based in Kirkland, Wash., and headed by Seattle-area telecom pioneer Craig McCaw.
The business combination was approved today by Holicity’s shareholders, opening the way for Astra’s shares to be publicly traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market starting Thursday. The ticker symbol for Astra common stock will be ASTR, and the symbol ASTRW will be used for Astra warrants.
“Becoming a public company is an important milestone in our mission to improve life on Earth from space,” Chris Kemp, Astra’s founder, chairman and CEO, said in a news release. “All of us at Astra are humbled by the opportunity to have the support of public shareholders and are grateful to the many people who have contributed so much to help us realize
Organizaciji ASTRA dodeljena nagrada za borbu protiv trgovine ljudima danas.rs - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from danas.rs Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Astra’s Rocket 3.1 blasts off from the company’s launch complex in Alaska. (Astra Photo)
Back in the 1990s, cellular telecom pioneer Craig McCaw bought into a vision of ubiquitous wireless service via a constellation of satellites, with an assist from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Almost a quarter-century later, McCaw’s Teledesic venture is long-dead, but the dream lives on thanks to the impending merger of McCaw’s Holicity “blank check” company and Astra, one of the rising stars of the satellite launch industry.
The deal which takes advantage of the trend toward using special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, to take startups public values Astra at a double-unicorn level of $2.1 billion, and would unlock up to $500 million in cash proceeds.