Astra Space Inc (ASTR)

[Sinvests]

“Astra, led by serial entrepreneur and former NASA CTO Chris Kemp, wants to address this growing demand (which extends to commercial customers like Spire, Planet and others that are putting up large communications and Earth observation small satellite constellations) by producing rockets fast and with high frequency. Per the Bloomberg article, Astra says it can launch “profitably” for $2.5 million per mission, which is around half the going rate for a Rocket Lab launch, and that it eventually hopes to attain costs as low as $1 million per mission with a daily launch operational cadence. To that end, it’s looking to ramp production to a rate of producing hundreds of vehicles per year in a 250,000-square-foot manufacturing facility it’s setting up.

Astra is also different in that it’s using aluminum primarily in its launch vehicle, as opposed to the more costly but premium carbon fiber used by Rocket Lab in its Electron vehicle. And their launch platform is designed with mobility in mind, as the whole point is that it can be deployed responsively and globally on short notice. If Rocket Lab’s launcher is a finely crafted and engineered supercar, Astra’s is aiming to be a reliable, adequate daily compact commuter car.”


https://www.google.ca/amp/s/techcrunch.com/2020/02/03/rocket-startup-astra-emerges-from-stealth-aims-to-launch-for-as-little-as-1m-per-flight/amp/