Stories about space companies’ finances, including earnings reports and M&A news.
After a few weeks of tension, Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) has decided to call off its acquisition of missile and rocket propulsion manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne (NYSE:AJRD). ICYMI: In late January, the FTC sued to block a $4.4B acquisition deal between Lockheed and Aerojet, originally announced in 2020. The commission alleged that the merger would allow Lockheed to inflate the […]
After a couple scrubs, Astra (NASDAQ:ASTR) launched Thursday for the first time from the Space Coast. LV0008 flew smoothly and nominally for roughly three minutes, but ended up failing mid-flight. What happened? Something went awry upon stage separation. The rocket’s upper stage began spinning shortly after engine ignition (based on the live feed). The payloads: Four NASA-sponsored […]
Viasat (NASDAQ: VSAT) reported earnings last Thursday. Highlights for the satellite communications player: $720M in Q4 2021 revenues, which is up 25% year-over-year. Sales in Viasat’s Satellite Services segment were $310M, a YoY increase of 43%, largely driven by new aviation customers. Viasat posted a net loss of $6.6M, which the company attributed to “higher depreciation and […]
Image: D-Orbit. See investor deck here. On the heels of Satellogic ($SATL) completing its reverse merger just this week, another space player is preparing to go public via SPAC. This morning, D-Orbit announced its intentions to merge with Breeze Holdings Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:BREZ). D-Orbit offers “last-mile,” in-space transport services via its ION Satellite Carrier. D-Orbit has used ION […]
Goldman Sachs has initiated coverage of Planet (NYSE:PL) with a buy rating and $11 price target, implying an upside 80+%. $PL traded up ~10.5% on Wednesday. Earth observation (EO) company Planet went public (via SPAC, obviously) in early December, in a deal valuing the company at $2.8B. The company’s stock has fallen by ~50% since […]
Virgin Orbit said Tuesday SPAC shareholders have voted to approve its SPAC merger with Nextgen Acquisition Corp. II. Virgin expects the de-SPAC to take place this year (so, this week). After the transaction closes, the combined entity will become a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ with the $VORB ticker. SPAC deets: Virgin Orbit expects to pull […]
Planet Labs is nearly ready to take its talents to the public markets at a $2.8B valuation. Yesterday, Planet’s C-suite held court with investors to sell the vision. A decade of history in ~60 words: Planet set out to image and index all of Earth every day. The company developed a constellation of 200 satellites, created the […]
Terran Orbital is the latest space company that will take its talents to the public markets (via SPAC, of course). SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies, have become quite a popular vehicle for space companies looking to raise capital. The California-based satellite manufacturer said today that it would merge with Tailwind Two, a blank-check company […]
With all the talk of satellite constellations in beta or build phase, we figured we’d check up on one that’s fully up and running. Satellite operator Iridium reported Q3 earnings Monday. The McLean, VA-based company generated ~$162 million in Q3 revenue, a 5.5% beat. Its net loss was $2.1 million. Commercial services revenue totaled ~$102 million, equal […]
