A rendering of Momentus’ Vigoride in-space shuttle. Photo: Momentus

Stockholders of Stable Road Acquisition Corp the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with Momentus on Wednesday. Momentus will begin trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “MNTS” on Friday.

The merger was first announced in October 2020 and Momentus has run issues since then with national security concerns, including fines from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  

Holders of approximately 55% percent of Stable Road’s issued and outstanding shares cast votes at the special meeting on Wednesday. More than 97% of the votes cast approved the transaction. SPACs allow investors to redeem their shares instead of becoming a shareholder of the combined company. In this case, Stable Road said that approximately 3.5 million shares or 20% of Stable Road’s Class A common stock were submitted for redemption. 

Approximately $137 million will be disbursed from Stable Road’s trust account to Momentus upon the closing of the business combination which. Combined with the $110 million equity PIPE, Momentus will receive approximately $247 million before transaction fees, expenses and payments related to the previously announced repurchase of its co-founders’ shares.

“The overwhelming support that our stockholders showed us by approving the business combination with a relatively small amount of redemptions speaks to the value proposition that we saw in Momentus,” commented Brian Kabot, chairman and CEO of Stable Road.

Momentus has had a rocky road to the SPAC approval. The company is working to provide in-space transportation to take satellites to a precise orbit, but its technology has not been validated. 

The Russian nationality of founding CEO Mikhail Kokorich and co-founder Lev Khasis led to national security concerns. Kokorich stepped down in January and both co-founders divested from the company. This affected flight approval for its Vigoride orbital transfer vehicle, and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) denied approval. 

Momentus had to come to a National Security Agreement (NSA) with the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of the Treasury on behalf of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and cut its valuation in half from $1.2 billion to $700 million due to pushing out its milestones and financial timeline. 

Last month, Stable Road, its sponsor SRC-NI, Kabot, and Momentus settled with the SEC for more than $8 million penalties, for misleading investors about its technology and implications of Kokrich’s nationality. The SEC’s litigation is proceeding against Kokorich.