By Joey Roulette

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Astra Space this week asked Nasdaq for more time to bring its stock price above $1 to avoid being delisted from the U.S. stock exchange, the company said Thursday as it tries to revamp its rocket business against compounding financial headwinds.

Nasdaq told Astra in October last year that the company fell out of compliance with listing rules when its shares remained below $1 for 30 consecutive business days, giving the rocket builder until April 5 to increase the share price or face a booting from the stock exchange.

With its share price well below $1 as of Thursday, Astra Chief Financial Officer Axel Martinez wrote in a blog post that the company formally requested on Monday another six-month window to raise the share price above $1 for 10 consecutive business days as required to stave off a delisting.

“Based on our discussions with representatives of Nasdaq, we expect to hear back from Nasdaq regarding the status of our application on or around April 5, 2023, and we are not aware of any reason why our application would not be approved,” Martinez said in a statement.