Astra’s Rocket 3.1 blasts off from the company’s launch complex in Alaska. (Astra Photo)
Back in the 1990s, cellular telecom pioneer Craig McCaw bought into a vision of ubiquitous wireless service via a constellation of satellites, with an assist from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Almost a quarter-century later, McCaw’s Teledesic venture is long-dead, but the dream lives on thanks to the impending merger of McCaw’s Holicity “blank check” company and Astra, one of the rising stars of the satellite launch industry.
The deal which takes advantage of the trend toward using special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, to take startups public values Astra at a double-unicorn level of $2.1 billion, and would unlock up to $500 million in cash proceeds.