Howdy and welcome again to TechCrunch Area. Completely satisfied South by Southwest week for all who have fun. On to the information.

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Astra has formally grow to be the primary area SPAC bust of the yr, with the corporate saying final week that it had accepted a take-private deal from co-founders Chris Kemp and Adam London.

The corporate went public in the summertime of 2021 through a blockbuster $2.1 billion SPAC deal. The acceptance of the deal — which can see Kemp and London buying all remaining Astra inventory for $0.50 per share — implies that the corporate has misplaced greater than 99% of its worth.

Astra IPO at Nasdaq. Picture Credit: Astra

We’re trying ahead in time for this week’s launch highlights — particularly, to March 14, which is when SpaceX might conduct the third orbital check of the large Starship rocket. One essential caveat: That date depends upon the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration and the regulator issuing a modified launch license to SpaceX for the check.

It needs to be an thrilling check, although, with the corporate planning to check a handful of recent, very formidable capabilities, together with a propellant switch demonstration in the course of the Starship higher stage’s coasting section and the first-ever relight of a Raptor engine in area.

starship moist gown rehearsal. Picture Credit: SpaceX

I actually loved digging into this report on the dual-use startup panorama from AIN Ventures. The agency analyzed 123 dual-use corporations that raised $5 million or extra final yr. It additionally offers some attention-grabbing reflections on the place dual-use investing is headed:

The presence of great unallocated capital in each private and non-private sectors is atypical. The period of cheap capital has handed, prompting startups to recalibrate to extra practical valuations. This monetary panorama is poised to create a dynamic and probably profitable local weather for enterprise capital funding in 2024.

Picture Credit: Kiyoshi Tanno / Getty Photographs

This week in area historical past

I don’t imply to be rude, however this week in area historical past we’re revisiting…URANUS.

Its discovery, that’s. That’s proper: On March 13, 1781, a German-born, British astronomer named Sir William Herschel observed a faint object via his telescope. He initially thought it may be a comet, however later appropriately recognized it as our photo voltaic system’s seventh planet. Six years later, Herschel additionally found Uranus’ two largest moons, Titania and Oberon (the opposite three moons wouldn’t be found till the nineteenth and twentieth centuries).