Astra Optimizes
Workforce to Support Sustainable
Long-Term Business Plan
August 4, 2023
Astra Space,
Inc. announced a strategic reallocation
of its
workforce from its Launch Services
organization to its Astra Spacecraft
Engines
TM business to support its growing
customer base and order
backlog of its spacecraft engines.
Astra last
announced 278 cumulative committed
orders of the Astra Spacecraft
Engine™through March 30, 2023,
representing approximately
$77 million of contract value. A
substantial majority of these orders are
expected to be delivered through the end
of 2024.
In support of the
Astra Spacecraft Engine
TM business, Astra has reallocated
approximately 50 engineering and
manufacturing personnel from
Launch Services to Space Products. This
reallocation includes a combination of
permanent reassignments and temporary
assignments to
support customer programs and increasing
production and test capacity through the
end of the year.
“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,” said Chris
Kemp, Founder, Chairman and CEO.
In addition to this
reallocation, Astra has also reduced its
overall workforce by approximately 25%
since the beginning of the quarter,
including a reduction of approximately
70 employees that was announced on
August 4, 2023. The affected employees
primarily supported
the Company’s launch, SG&A, and shared
services functions.
“I am grateful for
the sacrifices that the employees
impacted by this decision have made, and
we are deeply committed to treating all
impacted employees with the utmost care
and respect during this transition,”
continued Kemp.
Astra’s Launch
Services organization remains focused on
completing milestones for several launch
customer contracts while continuing
development of Rocket 4 and Launch
System 2.0. The reduction and
reallocation of Launch Services
resources is expected to delay the
timing of the Company’s test launches
and paid commercial launches.
As discussed on our
previous earnings call, Astra continues
to make significant reductions to its
operating expenses. Cumulative
reductions
in workforce are expected to result in
over $4m of quarterly cost savings
beginning in Q4 2023, which when
combined with ongoing reductions in
Capex and Opex, are expected to result
in substantial reductions to cash burn
over the next few quarters.
The Company remains
focused on thoughtfully pursuing
opportunities to raise additional
capital. Given the strength of our Astra
Spacecraft
Engine
TM business, the Company has engaged PJT
Partners, a global, advisory-focused
investment bank, to act as the Company’s
financial
advisor in connection with future
financing activities and to explore
potential strategic investments in the
Astra Spacecraft Engine
TMbusiness
to strengthen Astra’s balance sheet.
Business Update
As part of this
announcement, Astra is also providing
the following preliminary estimates of
certain unaudited financial results for
the three
months ended June 30, 2023, in order to
support our continuing discussions with
lenders and other potential financing
sources. The data
presented below has been prepared by and
is the responsibility of the Company
management. It is preliminary and
unaudited, based on our
estimates, and subject to further
internal review by its management and
compilation of actual results. The
Company’s independent registered
public accounting firm has not audited,
reviewed, compiled, or performed any
procedures with respect to the
preliminary financial data
presented below. Accordingly, the
Company’s independent registered public
accounting firm does not express an
opinion or any other form
of assurance with respect to this
preliminary financial data. Ranges have
been
provided, rather than specific amounts,
for the preliminary data because
financial closing procedures for the
three months ended June 30,
2023 are not yet complete.
For the three
months ended June 30, 2023, we expect:
• Revenues to be
between $0.5 million to $1.0 million,
• GAAP net loss to
be between $13.0 million and $15.0
million,
• adjusted EBITDA
loss* to be between $32.1 million and
$34.1 million,
• basic shares
outstanding to be between 271 million
and 273 million shares,
• capital
expenditures to be between $2.9 million
and $3.9 million, and
• cash, cash
equivalents and marketable securities to
be between $26.0 million and $26.5
million.
The preliminary
estimates provided for adjusted EBITDA
loss, basic shares outstanding, and
capital expenditures are in line with
the original
guidance provided at the Q1 2023
earnings call on May 15, 2023.
The preliminary
estimate of cash, cash equivalents and
marketable securities guidance is lower
than the range initially provided at the
Q1
2023 earnings call
on May 15, 2023 primarily due to delays
in collecting on government receivables
of approximately $2.9 million and a
delay
in the Company’s receipt of cash
proceeds from the employee retention tax
credit of approximately $2.1 million.
Had these two items been
collected in Q2 2023, we believe, based
on our current views, that Astra’s cash,
cash equivalents and marketable
securities would have been
within the guidance provided on that
earnings call.
Adjusted EBITDA
loss is a non-GAAP financial measure.
Please see our current report on Form
8-K filed August 4, 2023, with the SEC
for
more information on our use of Adjusted
EBITDA loss and for a reconciliation of
our preliminary estimated range of
Adjusted EBITDA loss for
the three months ended June 30, 2023 to
its most comparable GAAP measure.
Litigation Update
The Company also
announced a development in its
securities litigation. On August 2,
2023, the Company received an order
granting its
motion to dismiss
in the action before the U.S. federal
district court for the Northern District
of California, captioned: In Re Astra
Space Inc.
f/k/a Holicity Inc.
Securities Litigation. The plaintiffs’
complaint alleged that the Company and
several of its current and former
officers and
directors violated provisions of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended, with respect to certain
statements concerning the
Company’s projected launch cadence and
payload capacity goals. The complaint
sought unspecified damages on behalf of
a purported class
of purchasers of the Company’s
securities between February 2, 2021 and
December 29, 2021.The plaintiffs in this
action have a period of 21
days to file an amended complaint.