pre-approve any audit services if the need for consideration of a pre-approval request arises between regularly scheduled meetings. Any services approved by a delegated member or members of the Audit Committee is communicated to the Audit Committee at its next regularly scheduled meeting.
CHANGES IN INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
On June 30, 2021, the Audit Committee approved the engagement of Grant Thornton LLP (“Grant Thornton”) as our independent registered public accounting firm to audit our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021. Grant Thornton served as independent registered public accounting firm of Legacy Astra, now known as Astra Space Operations, Inc. and a wholly-owned subsidiary of us, prior to the business combination which closed on June 30, 2021 and dismissed WithumSmith+Brown (“Withum”), as Holicity’s (now known as us) independent registered public accounting firm. This decision was ratified by the Company’s board of directors.
The reports of Withum on Holicity’s financial statements as of and for the period from June 2, 2020 (inception) to December 31, 2020 did not contain an adverse opinion or a disclaimer of opinion, and were not qualified or modified as to uncertainties, audit scope or accounting principles.
During Holicity’s fiscal year ending December 31, 2020 and the subsequent interim period through March 31, 2021, there were no disagreements between Holicity and Withum on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial disclosure or auditing scope or procedure, which disagreements, if not resolved to the satisfaction of Holicity, would have caused it to make reference to the subject matter of the disagreements in its reports on Holicity’s financial statements for such years.
During Holicity’s fiscal year ending December 31, 2020 and the subsequent interim period through March 31, 2021, there were no “reportable events” (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended).
During the period from June 2, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, and the subsequent interim period through the date of Withum’s dismissal, the Company did not consult with Grant Thornton regarding either (i) the application of accounting principles to a specified transaction, either completed or proposed; or the type of audit opinion that might be rendered on the financial statements of the Company, and no written report or oral advice was provided that Grant Thornton concluded was an important factor considered by us in reaching a decision as to the accounting, auditing, or financial reporting issue; or (ii) any matter that was either the subject of a “disagreement” (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act) or a “reportable event” (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act).
This disclosure is consistent with prior disclosures regarding our change in independent registered accounting firms from Withum to Grant Thornton. We had previously provided Withum with a copy of the foregoing disclosures and had requested that Withum furnish the Company with a letter addressed to the SEC stating whether it agrees with the statements made by the Company set forth above. A copy of Withum’s letter to the SEC, dated June 30, 2021, was filed as Exhibit 16.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on July 1, 2021.
On March 18, 2022, the Audit Committee dismissed Grant Thornton as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm. Grant Thornton was previously engaged to audit the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021. The dismissal did not affect Grant Thornton’s engagement for the year ended December 31, 2021.
As described below, the change in independent registered public accounting firm is not the result of any disagreement with Grant Thornton. Grant Thornton had served as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm since the Business Combination, and it served as Legacy Astra’s independent registered public accounting firm since the fourth quarter of 2020 and performed audits of Legacy Astra’s financial statements for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2019 and 2020. Grant Thornton also audited Astra’s financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Grant Thornton’s audit reports on the financial statements for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021 did not provide an adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion to our financial statements, nor modify its opinion as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principles, except that Grant Thornton’s audit reports for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2019 and 2020 included a statement of substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. No similar statement, with respect to our ability to continue as a going concern, was provided for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. Grant Thornton’s audit report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 included