As the space industry faces a change in direction in its rocket development programme, Astra said Tuesday that it would be laying off roughly 16% of its workforce.
Astra CEO Chris Kemp stated in a press release with the company’s third-quarter results that “given the current macroeconomic climate, we made the difficult but smart choice to decrease our operating expenses to meet our core near-term objectives.”

Astra, which employs over 400 people today, stated that it anticipates realising financial benefits from the staff decrease in the first quarter of 2023.

Over the summer, the corporation changed course with its rocket system, abandoning the development and launch of its Rocket 3.3 vehicle in favour of the larger, improved Rocket 4.0 vehicle, which Astra plans to introduce in late 2023. Astra is currently constructing its production facility, carrying out testing, and developing Rocket 4.0.
Adjusted EBITDA losses for the third quarter were $41.4 million, a 26% increase over the same period a year earlier, according to the business. Sales of its spacecraft engines generated $2.8 million in revenue for Astra during the quarter. At the conclusion of the quarter, it had $150.5 million in cash on hand.

As of Tuesday’s price of $0.58 per share, Astra stock is down 94% for the year. After its stock price dropped below $1 per share in October, the firm was issued a de-listing warning by the Nasdaq. By April, the corporation must raise the stock price back above the threshold.