Astra has laid off 25% of its workforce for the reason that starting of the quarter and is reallocating not less than 50 engineers and manufacturing employees away from its launch enterprise to deal with spacecraft manufacturing, the corporate stated Friday.
The reallocation and layoffs are anticipated to delay testing of the under-development Rocket 4 and Launch System 2.0, Astra stated. The affected staff labored in the corporate’s launch, gross sales and administration and “shared services” departments. Workforce reductions are anticipated to save the corporate greater than $4 million per quarter starting in the fourth quarter of this 12 months.
Astra, which is dealing with dwindling cash reserves, is little question searching for a means to additional scale back working bills whereas additionally bolstering its spacecraft engine enterprise, the one enterprise unit that at present has a near-term likelihood of producing income. The spacecraft engine expertise is sourced from Astra’s acquisition of propulsion developer Apollo Fusion, which closed the day Astra went public in July 2021.
Indeed, Astra stated that it had closed 278 dedicated orders of the Astra Spacecraft Engine product by the tip of March, which totals round $77 million in contracts as soon as the engines are delivered. A “substantial majority” of these orders shall be delivered by the tip of 2024, the corporate stated.
“We are intensely focused on delivering on our commitments to our customers, which includes ensuring we have sufficient resources and an adequate financial runway to execute on our near-term opportunities,” Chris Kemp, CEO and founder, stated in an announcement.
Astra additionally stated that it had engaged funding financial institution PJT Partners as a monetary advisor because it appears for extra capital to proceed operations. That consists of “potential strategic investments in the Astra Spacecraft Engine business to strengthen Astra’s balance sheet,” the corporate stated. Separately, Astra stated it had raised $10.8 million in a debt sale to funding group High Trail Capital.
According to preliminary second-quarter monetary outcomes, Astra is predicted to have revenues between $0.5-$1 million, whereas having simply $26-$26.5 million in cash available.
This will not be the primary time main layoffs have hit the area firm. Last November, Astra introduced it had let go of 16% of its staff, additionally to deal with launch and spacecraft engines.
