What happened

In its short history as a public company, Astra Space (ASTR 3.76%) has had some real issues getting payloads into space. That difficulty is weighing on Wall Street, and caused Astra shares to fall as much as 25% this week, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

So what

Astra joined the public markets in July 2021 via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), and the stock has lost about 90% of its value since that debut. The company is focused on using small rockets to launch payloads into low Earth orbit, probably the busiest and potentially most lucrative part of the launch market. But so far the plan has not gone according to script.

The company's rockets have had trouble successfully bringing payloads to orbit, including a failed NASA launch back in June. Earlier this month, Astra announced plans to abandon its current rocket technology in favor of a new version of its launch system.

But that plan requires time and money, and others, including Rocket Lab, are having a lot more success in the market and establishing their reliability.

Bank of America's Ronald Epstein has seen enough to be concerned. This week, the analyst lowered his price target on Astra shares to $0.70 from $2.70, keeping an underperform rating on the shares. Epstein notes that the company does not expect to launch another vehicle until late 2023 at the earliest and warned the delays could set Astra back compared to competitors "that have already established consistent launch platforms."

Now what

A boom in space stocks have revolutionized commercial space travel, creating opportunities that were hard to imagine just a few years ago. But investors need to remember that space is hard, and the market is limited, meaning that while there is the opportunity that this market can create major winners, there are also likely to be some losers.

It is too early to declare Astra Space a loser, but there is enough evidence to say that if nothing else, the company is a high-risk investment with a lot of obstacles to overcome. Given the extended period of time Astra will need to reinvent itself, there isn't much reason for investors to hold steady and wait for a launch.