astra

We’re rapidly approaching the quarter mark of the 21st century, but instead of being at the brink of a radical transformative stage, such as the futuristic vision akin to Arthur C. Clarke’s Star Child from 2001: A Space Odyssey, we’re still throwing proverbial bones into the sky. China's Plan to Land Astronauts on the MoonSuch is the feeling I get in the wake of three recent Moon missions, in which two spacecraft, Japan’s SLIM and Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus, survived despite falling awkwardly onto the lunar surface,…

Rocket LV0006 tilts during liftoff.Astra / NASASpaceflightSpace company Astra will go private in a cut-rate deal with its founders after a dismal run as a publicly-traded stock.Astra co-founders Chris Kemp and Adam London – CEO and CTO, respectively – signed an agreement with the company's board to acquire all outstanding common stock at 50 cents a share. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.A special committee of the board, with Kemp and London abstaining, voted in favor of the take-private plan. After the…

A view of Starship’s 33 Raptor engines during its second test flight on November 18.Image: Photo: SpaceXExperimental rockets, Moon landers, planetary flybys, breathtaking spacewalks, and vintage boosters—these are just a few of the many stories that contributed to the most striking and memorable images of 2023.Indeed, the past 12 months have been a whirlwind of activity in the realm of spaceflight, whether in the lab, on the launch pad, or in space itself. The resulting visuals from the past year are particularly…

Astra tests a rocket at its headquarters on the San Francisco Bay in Alameda, California.AstraThe founders of struggling space company Astra have offered to take the company private at a value of about $30 million, according to a securities filing Thursday.Chris Kemp, chairman and CEO, and Adam London, chief technology officer, delivered a proposal to the Astra board of directors Wednesday to acquire all the company's outstanding stock at $1.50 a share.That price is a 103% premium to Wednesday's closing price of 74 cents…

Astra CEO Chris Kemp speaks inside the company's headquarters during the company's "Spacetech Day" on May 12, 2022.Brady Kenniston / AstraSpacecraft engine manufacturer and small rocket builder Astra plans to conduct a reverse stock split at a 1-to-15 ratio, the company disclosed in a securities filing on MondayAstra also seeks to raise up to $65 million through an "at the market" offering of common stock, the filing said.Shares of Astra were little changed in afterhours trading from their close at 40 cents a share. The…

The U.K.’s King Charles III is really serious about keeping space clean, so much so that he unveiled the Astra Carta framework’s seal at Buckingham Palace yesterday.Are Big Consumer Facing Tech Companies Redeemable? The Astra Carta framework is a Sustainable Markets Initiative, as described in a Royal Family press release, which emphasizes sustainable practices for space companies. Charles unveiled the seal at the Space Sustainability Event at the palace, which saw attendees,including scientists, astronauts,…

Jony Ive and his team at LoveFrom have made a new design for King Charles III called the “Astra Carta” seal. The seal is meant to represent the UK’s call to action for public and private sectors to work together on responsible and sustainable use of outer space. It marks his second project for King Charles this year after LoveFrom made a royal emblem to herald the King’s recent coronation earlier. The seal, which is animated on the sustainability initiative’s official site, is a circular badge with the all-caps Latin…

There simply comes a time when a Star Trek show demands a courtroom episode. Whether it’s internal Starfleet politics, or the chance to advocate Federation ideals to an alien society, Star Trek loves an opportunity to make its subtexts so text it can practically beat a book of them over your head. And so it’s no surprise Strange New Worlds already finds itself at this crossroads of exploring the franchise’s classic tropes.Strange New World's Melissa Navia Talks Flying the Enterprise | io9 Interview“Ad Astra per Aspera”…

“I definitely believe that a large part of it as a space enthusiast.” That’s what Matthew Brown told CNBC on March 23, when asked why he was considering a $200 million investment into Virgin Orbit, a nearly bankrupt rocket company.He Tossed His Bitcoin, Now He Wants It BackA week later, that deal collapsed, and Virgin Orbit, which had begun to bring employees back to work in expectation of new funding, is facing the end. The company has ceased operations and will lay off some 675 employees, CEO Dan Hart said in a meeting…

Venture-backed rocket makers recently spent an anxious weekend waiting on the outcome of Silicon Valley Bank’s failure, but their latest troubles have no connection tothe lender’s collapse.Astra Space (ASTR) is now fighting to remain listed on the NASDAQ because it can’t keep its stock price above $1, while Virgin Orbit (VORB) has sent workers home as it hunts for new funding or a new owner.At each company, the crux of the issue has more to do with the difficulty of launching objects into space than the difficulties of…