Voyager Technologies Completes Astrobotic Acquisition And Was Just Awarded a $298 Million Contract From NASA

No one can accuse Voyager Technologies (NYSE:VOYG) of having a lazy summer. On Monday, the company announced potentially momentous developments in its business. It’s closing a major acquisition of a business that is not only highly complementary to its operations, but one that recently secured a nearly $300 million contract from a top government agency.

To me, this makes Voyager stock even more compelling, despite a few concerns I have about the company. Read on for why.

Image source: Getty Images.

Over the Moon

First, let’s nail down the details. Voyager announced Monday that it had reached a deal to acquire Astrobotic Technology, a space industry peer that specializes in landers and rovers for lunar exploration, as well as power, communications, and navigation systems for the same purpose. This transaction was sewn up relatively quickly, as it was originally announced at the beginning of June.

Astrobotic is an exciting and unique company in the increasingly high-profile space sector. As such, it didn’t come cheap — Voyager is paying up to $300 million or so, in a cash-and-stock transaction for which it didn’t provide much detail, to own it. This gives it the right to rename the business, of course, so the former Astrobotic is now Voyager Lunar Systems.

That money/stock already looks like resources well spent. In the same press release that trumpeted the closing of the deal, Voyager reiterated some recent news from Astrobotic. In what has to be considered quite a swan song, the latter’s final news release as an independent company revealed that it had been awarded a set of task orders (i.e., contracts) from the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA).

As with most NASA contracts, these are considerable. The agency is contracting the now Voyager Lunar Systems to operate two lander missions to the Moon, under an indefinite delivery/indefinite-quantity framework. This job is worth roughly $298 million, Voyager wrote.

It’s part of an ambitious NASA initiative that aims to — you guessed it — build a long-term, permanent base on that cold rock in space. It’s a complex, three-phase program with phase one (learn, test, build) slated to run until 2029.

Voyager Lunar Systems will be instrumental in the current phase, as it’ll deliver many of the foundational instruments, structures, and systems required for the project. These include the former Astrobotic’s solar energy generation and wireless power distribution network, LunaGrid, and a set of inflatable habitation structures from business partner Max Space.

Not every investor is on board

These are, almost indisputably, business-changing developments for Voyager in the best ways possible. So it might seem a little odd that the company’s stock actually declined on Monday -- by nearly 5% -- after it published its Astrobotic/NASA update.

Firstly, neither news item was a revelation, as Astrobotic trumpeted the NASA win at the end of June, and (again) the acquisition was originally announced at the beginning of that month. Meanwhile, as a still relatively early-stage company, Voyager has yet to post a net profit; in fact, its annual headline losses have been deepening significantly, from $25 million in 2023 to $62 million the following year, to nearly $105 million in 2025. And, given that it operates in the high-capex space business, you can imagine its considerable cash burn.

With that, plus Astrobotic’s nine-figure price tag, Voyager went to the investor well to scare up more financing. Last week, the company announced it closed an upsized $250 million credit facility. That was only the most recent time it held out the hat — it floated an issue of convertible senior notes last November that was upsized to $435 million. The coupon on the notes is modest (only 0.75% per annum); however, share dilution could be considerable if many of the securities convert. Either way, the unprofitable Voyager’s debt (pay)load keeps getting heavier.

All that being said, I would be very bullish on the company regardless. The Astrobotic deal makes it a powerful “full stack” partner in lunar missions, and beyond that, it operates in a space sector that’s rapidly expanding in opportunity, not least because of Space Exploration Technologies’ (NASDAQ:SPCX) -- aka SpaceX -- recent arrival on the stock market. While I’d keep a wary eye on Voyager’s financials, I’m all systems go for its stock.

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Voyager Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.