Spaceflight Now reported that on Friday, Astra attempted launch its small satellite launcher for the first time. However, the launch vehicle “crashed shortly after liftoff from” Pacific Spaceport Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Astra “confirmed on Twitter that the flight ended during the rocket’s first stage burn, following a successful liftoff and initial climb from” the launch pad. The company tweeted, “It does look like we got a good amount of nominal flight time.” The “launch vehicle flown Friday, designated Rocket 3.1, was powered by five Astra-built Delphin main engines on its first stage.”
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Tag: Astra Space
Astra Space Scrubs Monday Launch Attempt
Space News reports that Astra Space “aborted and then scrubbed a launch of its Rocket 3.3 small launch vehicle” seconds before the planned liftoff Monday. Astra “counted down to a launch of the Rocket 3.3 vehicle, designated LV0008, at 1:50 p.m. Eastern but aborted just as the engines started up. The company took nearly 90 minutes to investigate the issue before announcing it was scrubbing the launch for the day.” Astra postponed the launch due to a “minor telemetry issue.”
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Astra Receives FAA Commercial Launch License, First Launch Attempt Rescheduled for Monday
Spaceflight Now reported that Astra “has become the first company to receive a commercial launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration through a streamlined regulatory regime, clearing a procedural hurdle before launching a small rocket and four NASA-sponsored CubeSats into orbit Saturday from Cape Canaveral.”
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Astra Space to Launch First of Three NASA Summer Launches Sunday
The Orlando (FL) Sentinel reports that Astra Space “announced it could launch as early as Sunday on the first of three missions to send six tropical weather satellites into orbit for NASA.” The Rocket 3.3 “named LV0010 had a successful test fire at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 46 this week, and the company said the potential launch is awaiting a launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration.” The payload “is two of six small satellites that are part of the TROPICS mission, which stands for Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats.”
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Rocket 3.3 Returns to Flight Tuesday
Space News reports that Astra’s Rocket 3.3 returned to flight Tuesday “at 12:22 p.m. Eastern from Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska on Kodiak Island.” The mission carried NearSpace Launch’s EyeStar-S3 satellite, the Portland State Aerospace Society’s OreSat0, and a payload from an undisclosed third customer.
Full Story (Space News)