{"id":17599,"date":"2021-02-03T20:28:29","date_gmt":"2021-02-03T12:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/how-telecom-pioneer-craig-mccaw-hitched-up-with-astra-rocket-venture-in-2-1b-deal\/"},"modified":"2021-02-03T20:28:29","modified_gmt":"2021-02-03T12:28:29","slug":"how-telecom-pioneer-craig-mccaw-hitched-up-with-astra-rocket-venture-in-2-1b-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/how-telecom-pioneer-craig-mccaw-hitched-up-with-astra-rocket-venture-in-2-1b-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"How telecom pioneer Craig McCaw hitched up with Astra rocket venture in $2.1B deal"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Astra
Astra\u2019s Rocket 3.1 blasts off from the company\u2019s launch complex in Alaska. (Astra Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Almost a quarter-century later, McCaw\u2019s Teledesic venture is long-dead, but the dream lives on \u2014 thanks to the impending merger of McCaw\u2019s Holicity \u201cblank check\u201d company and Astra, one of the rising stars of the satellite launch industry.<\/p>\n

The deal \u2014 which takes advantage of the trend toward using special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, to take startups public \u2014 values Astra at a double-unicorn level of $2.1 billion, and would unlock up to $500 million in cash proceeds.<\/p>\n

Not bad for a space company that hasn\u2019t yet quite made it to orbit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis transaction takes us a step closer to our mission of improving life on Earth from space by fully funding our plan to provide daily access to low Earth orbit from anywhere on the planet,\u201d Chris Kemp, Astra\u2019s founder, chairman and CEO, said Tuesday in a news release announcing the merger.<\/p>\n

During an investor call, McCaw invoked Teledesic\u2019s history as well as the current rise of broadband mega-constellations such as SpaceX\u2019s Starlink network and Amazon\u2019s yet-to-be-launched Project Kuiper.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve long believed that there has been an amazing opportunity to provide communication satellites, essentially an internet in the sky, with the opportunity to provide the internet anywhere and everywhere, fulfilling one of humanity\u2019s great needs \u2014 and very consistent with the needs represented by a pandemic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

McCaw noted that \u201cwe see all of that happening now with the Starlink and Kuiper constellations coming with thousands of satellites, when we used to think of one satellite as a big thing.\u201d<\/p>\n