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  "documentTitle": "Astra Space, Inc. (ASTR)",
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  "presentationDate": "2021-12-01 00:00:00",
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      "text": "Only in the frenzied excess of the 2021 SPAC boom could a pre-revenue launch company without any successful launches and, staring at the possibility of bankruptcy only 10 months earlier, be valued at such a ridiculous sum.",
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      "text": "Key developments since the merger was announced include a surprise increase in targeted payload capacity, the concerning purchase of engine IP from a competitor shortly thereafter, and not-so-strategic M&A (Apollo Fusion) – all of which are classic signs of a company that is falling (further) behind the competition. In what should be a concerning sign for shareholders, Astra has provided no update to its contracted backlog figure since February (whereas Rocket Lab leads off its calls with the number).",
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      "text": "Upcoming catalysts include the unlock of 91.2m shares of Class A common stock on December 30th (the 6 month anniversary of the merger close)3, an event that poses downside risk given the prevailing poor performance of nearly every space SPAC, followed by the launch of Rocket LV0008, scheduled for January out of Cape Canaveral (Astra's first attempt at that launch site).",
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      "text": "Despite (or because of?) the lack of proven market demand, business model, launch reliability, production capability, and competitive differentiation, in February of this year Astra announced a plan to go public by merging with a SPAC, Holicity. Though Holicity originally pegged a reasonable valuation range for Astra at ~$1.0bn in October 2020, by the time the deal was finalized a couple months later, the company's value had doubled to $2.1bn.2 Only in the frenzied excess of the 2021 SPAC boom could a pre-revenue launch company without any successful launches and, staring at the possibility of bankruptcy only 10 months earlier, be valued at such a ridiculous sum.",
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      "text": "launches. By using manufacturing processes which allow the production of hundreds of rockets per year (some of which Astra anticipates will explode or otherwise fail to perform as intended) and relying on commercial off-the-shelf components, Astra's business model is to drive economies of scale, lower production costs, and target customers at the lower end of the smallsat market who theoretically are willing to accept lower reliability for a lower price. The manufacturing infrastructure and skillset needed to pull off this incredible volume of rocket production is still in development and apparently encountering setbacks. The delayed start to building out its factory has shifted $60m in capex originally slated for 2021 into 2022-2023. Of the roughly 125 job openings on the company's website, 87 are related to manufacturing, engineering, production management, etc.",
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      "text": "2 S-4/A filed May 21, 2021, Background of the Business Combination, p.76. 3 Prospectus (424B3) filed August 13, 2021, p. 95.",
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