The ethyl acetate extract of the Streptomyces sp. isolate GW99/1572 exhibited significant biological activity against Gram-positive bacteria and delivered kettapeptin (1), a new hexadepsipeptide antibiotic of the azinothricin type. The structure was elucidated by various 1D and 2D NMR techniques, mass spectrometry and by comparison of the NMR data with those of closely related antibiotics. The absolute configuration of the compound was derived by crystal structure analysis and by comparison with the optical rotation data of related compounds.