California-based private spaceflight company Astra attempted to launch a rocket from Florida yesterday and once again failed to deliver its payload. The rocket’s upper stage engine reportedly shut down prematurely and two NASA weather satellites were unable to reach low Earth orbit.
Astra announced the situation via a tweet. “We had a nominal first-stage flight,” he tweeted. The upper stage closed early and we did not deliver the payloads to orbit. We shared our sadness with NASA. More information will be available after completing a full data review.”
We had a nominal first stage flight. The upper stage shut down early and we did not deliver the payloads to orbit. We have shared our regrets with @NASA and the payload team. More information will be provided after we complete a full data review.
— Astra (@Astra) June 12, 2022
The launch followed the company’s previous February 10 launch in Florida. After the second stage of Rocket 3.3 got out of control, the satellites were undeliverable to low Earth orbit in this launch as well.
The last failed launch attempt was aimed at placing two CubeSats on NASA’s TROPICS project, which would serve to demonstrate the effectiveness of low-cost orbital tracking instruments for tropical cyclones on an almost global scale. Sunday’s launch was the first part of the goal of deploying a total of six satellites. This launch was planned to be followed by two more launches.
Astra aims to use orbital launch systems, rockets built to “significantly reduce the cost of access to space”, along with cost-cutting measures such as kerosene-fueled engines and a compact design. Astra’s rocket is 5 times shorter than SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets.
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