Astra Space Begins Trading Publicly, Reveals Future Plans

(RTTNews) - Rocket manufacturer Astra Space Inc. went public on Wednesday with its shares began trading under the ticker ASTR. Company shares were earlier listed under the special purpose acquisition company Holicity.

Once Astra's merger with Holicity is completed, the company will secure $500 million in capital, with which the company plans to make small rockets and expand its spacecraft and spaceport business lines. Astra Space also plans to enlarge its existing facilities at Alameda, California.

The company outlined its plans to launch as many 40-foot-tall rockets as possible, pushing for one rocket launch per day by 2025 and drop its $2.5 million price point even more.

Commenting on the developments, Astra CEO Chris Kemp said, "Now we have a space company that everyone can invest in on the public markets. The same kinds of things you do to make a rocket great are the same behaviors that you have to invest in to make a company great. You don't want any inefficiencies."

In December last year, the company had launced the Rocket 3.2 vehicle but it came short of orbit. Drawing from the experience of Rocket 3.2, the company is currently testing Rocket 3.3, with plans to launch it in the summer.

Astra plans to manufacture around 12 of the Rocket 3 series vehicles, with the next few currently in production. "We'll start to roll these things off the production line monthly. Our goal is to hit a monthly cadence by the end of the year, and then really just ramp from there. We've planned 15 launches for 2022, Kemp added.

At present, Astra launches rockets from Kodiak, Alaska, but the company has zeroed in on more spaceports around the world for future launches.