- Astra announced Tuesday it would lay off about 16% of its employees as the space company faces a pivot in its rocket development program.
- The company pivoted on its rocket system over the summer, suspending flights to develop a larger rocket that Astra hopes to debut in late 2023.
Astra announced Tuesday it would lay off about 16% of its employees as the space company faces a pivot in its rocket development program.
"Given the challenging macroeconomic environment, we made the difficult but prudent decision to reduce our operating expenses to support our primary near-term objectives," Astra CEO Chris Kemp said in a press release alongside the company's third-quarter results.
Astra, which currently has over 400 employees, said it expects to see savings from the headcount reduction in the first quarter of 2023.
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The company pivoted on its rocket system over the summer, ending development and flights of its Rocket 3.3 vehicle, in favor of a larger, upgraded Rocket 4.0 vehicle that Astra hopes to debut in late 2023. Astra is now building out its production facility and conducting testing an development of Rocket 4.0.
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The company reported a third-quarter adjusted EBITDA loss of $41.4 million, a 26% larger loss than the same period a year prior. Astra brought in $2.8 million in revenue for the quarter from sales of its spacecraft engines. It had $150.5 million in cash on hand at the quarter's end.
Money Report
Astra stock is down 94% this year as of Tuesday's close of $0.58 a share. The company received a de-listing warning from the Nasdaq in October after its stock fell below $1 a share. The company has until April to lift the stock price back above the level.
